The news was partly the news this week.

Two posts about the Dome blog and the News & Observer itself made the most-read list this week.

1. Swift Vote: A Texas home builder who bankrolled "Swift Boating" in 2004 is paying for ads attacking Beverly Perdue. Coming soon: Ads attacking her Vietnam service?

2. Complaint Department: Dome readers air their grievances about bias on the blog. Some say we're too conservative, others want to swear more.

3. Face Off: Gubernatorial candidates Perdue and Pat McCrory face off for the third of three debates. Mike Munger buys some chiles for his punk sauce.

4. Clarion Call: New York-based Clarion Fund to distribute DVD about "radical Islamic threat" to N&O subscribers. Don't worry — there's no late fee.

5. O Brother, Obama: Bluegrass singer Ralph Stanley endorses Democrat Barack Obama. Surprisingly no footage from his turn as a Klansman will be used in campaign ads.

As celebrities from Hollywood to New York City line up to endorse presidential candidates, one of the most celebrated bluegrass musicians of all time was not to be left out.

Ralph Stanley, the great singer and banjo man, endorsed Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday, the Washington Post reports.

"After the last eight years, Virginia families need someone on their side, someone looking out for their interests, and I know Barack Obama will be that leader," Stanley was quoted in the Post.

Stanley has been a Triangle favorite since the late 1940s, when he and brother Carter appeared on radio station WPTF in downtown Raleigh, reports Tommy Goldsmith.

More modern audiences may best remember Stanley's voice as it emerged from a Klansman's hood, singing "O Death" in the hit movie "O Brother Where Art Thou?"

SENECA, S.C.—"Home boy" John Edwards received a warm greeting Thursday night in the upcountry working-class town where he was born.

Of the several hundred people who packed into the gym of a local community center, at least 40-50 of them were kin to the presidential candidate, according to Wallace Edwards, the candidate's father, Rob Christensen reports.

"We ought to carry Oconee County if just my relatives show up," Edwards quipped.

Edwards' family moved away from Seneca in 1963, when he was 10 years old as his father's textile job took him to Georgia and finally to Robbins, N.C.

The former senator told his usual lessons about growing up, including stories of the sacrifice of his grandmother walking back and forth from the mill, his small mill village house, and how his father taught him that mill workers were every bit as good as the mill owners.

As in other campaign events this week, it included the bluegrass music of Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys.

Edwards urged everyone to bring everyone they knew to the polls on Saturday including Republicans and independents who are eligible to vote—those who didn't vote in last Saturday's GOP primary.

"Tell 'em we have  a home boy running for president of the United States," Edwards said.

John Edwards has taken a softer approach in South Carolina.

Instead of Bruce Springsteen, he now plays the bluegrass music of Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.

And while his basic message of "economic fairness" remains, some of the edge has been rounded off. He no longer uses phrases like "corporate greed" or talks about corporations stealing children's futures.

He also emphasizes his background as the son of a mill worker.

"No one has to explain to me what happens when the factories and the mills close and the jobs leave," Edwards said.

Still, Edwards is third in the polls in his native state. (N&O)

Legendary bluegrass singer Ralph Stanley sings with Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards at an event in South Carolina today. (Scott Sharpe)

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—North Carolinians sometimes complain that they miss out on choosing the Democratic and Republican nominees for president because their May primary is held after things are usually settled.

But sometimes, the presidential campaigns come very close. Take today, for example.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards will campaign along the South Carolina border, Rob Christensen reports.. He will hold an event in Bennettsville, 18 miles from Laurinburg, in Lancaster, 24 miles from Monroe and in Gaffney, 32 miles from Gastonia.

The border tour is part of what he calls his "Back Home, Back Roads Barnstorm" featuring blue grass legend Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys.