Somebody out there still likes John Edwards.

The New York Times, on its Web site, has an interactive feature to let readers cast their votes about Barack Obama's options for some of his cabinet posts.

Edwards is currently the seventh most popular choice for attorney general. He trails the likes of Chris Dodd and Ron Paul, but is ahead of folks like Hillary Clinton, Ralph Nader and Eliot Spitzer.

North Carolina is closely divided on the presidential race.

According to a new poll by Opinion Research Corp. of battleground states for CNN and Time magazine, Republican John McCain had 48 percent and Democrat Barack Obama had 47 percent.

Three percent said neither and one percent said other. Voters who were unsure were asked to say who they were more likely to vote for.

"But other polls in the state suggest McCain has a larger lead, and when averaged in a new CNN poll of polls out Wednesday, McCain has a 10-point lead," CNN writes. 

When third-party candidates were included in the question, McCain had 46, Obama 45, two percent selected Libertarian Bob Barr, two percent Ralph Nader and one percent Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney. 

Only Barr would be on the North Carolina ballot in November.

The poll of 910 registered voters was taken Sept. 14-16. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 

Ralph Nader says the left could learn from Jesse Helms.

The independent presidential candidate told Dome that the former longtime North Carolina senator could teach his liberal counterparts a lesson in tenacity.

"I think his legacy is that no matter how wrong you are on how many issues, if you stick to it you can win," he said in a phone interview.

Nader said that Helms had "enormous determination and stamina" when pushing his conservative causes, something he does not think current liberal senators have.

"They don't have that stick-to-it-iveness that Jesse Helms had," he said. "They're not hungry to win the way Jesse Helms was."

Nader will be in Raleigh Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. rally at St. Mary's School. He is running as a write-in candidate on the North Carolina ballot.

Listen to the complete interview as a podcast here. 

Ralph Nader wants your vote, but first he'll need your signature.

The independent presidential candidate is coming to Raleigh Saturday to hold campaign rally, but he won't be on the North Carolina ballot in November.

So far, only one third-party will have a presidential nominee in North Carolina: The Libertarians.

The Green Party did not submit any signatures before the June 27 deadline to be re-recognized as a party. The two parties also lost a case in May in Wake County Superior Court to overturn the state's tough standards.

The Libertarian Party has filed an appeal.

Under state law, Nader can qualify as a write-in candidate for president by turning in a petition with 500 signatures by noon on Aug. 6.

As a write-in candidate in 2004, Nader received 1,805 votes — or one-tenth of one percent of the ballots cast in that race. He was the top write-in in North Carolina that year.

Correction: An earler version of this post misstated Nader's party affiliation and the status of a lawsuit.

Supporters of Ralph Nader have a tough road ahead.

Under state law, they will have to get the signatures of 2 percent of the number of people who voted in the last gubernatorial election—or 69,734 people—to get him on the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.

Each signature must come from a registered voter. In addition, at least 200 of those voters must be from four Congressional districts.

The signatures must be verified by the county boards of election where each voter is registered and then presented to the State Board of Elections by noon on June 27.

Nader could also run as a write-in candidate, which only requires 500 signatures from registered voters, but his name wouldn't appear on the ballot, which reduces the chances of garnering significant support.

In the 2004 election, Nader got 1,805 votes in North Carolina, or half of a tenth of a percent of the total, as a write-in candidate. He was not on the 2000 ballot.

Will endorsements from prominent lefties help or hurt John Edwards in Iowa?

On his Trail Mix blog, Winston-Salem Journal reporter James Romoser points out that Dennis Kucinich has urged his supporters to vote for Barack Obama as a second choice.

Because of the arcane rules of the Iowa caucuses, supporters of any candidate who does not meet a 15 percent threshold get to choose again.

Four years ago, Kucinich did the same thing for Edwards, helping to propel him to a surprise second-place finish. Edwards is apparently less palatable to Kucinich this time around, but Edwards did get the endorsement of a different lefty, Ralph Nader.

Nader, the former Green Party nominee, said Edwards would stand for "the people" against big business, but also spent much of his endorsement speech attacking Hillary Clinton.