Republican presidential candidate John McCain's latest ad with the Republican National Committee is the first to run as part of a statewide buy in North Carolina.

MINNEAPOLIS — About 30 North Carolina delegates planned to attend a massive volunteer effort this morning for victims of Hurricane Gustav.

The group, wearing matching red polo shirts, were headed to the Minnesota Convention Center to create care packages, Barb Barrett reports.

The Republican National Committee organized the event and had hoped to get 200 volunteers from among the thousands of delegates, alternates, guests and staff attending this week’s convention.

State delegates heard first-hand about Gustav's destruction Monday when a former Louisiana governor attended their delegation breakfast and offered an update. And, being from a state that gets its own share of storms, N.C. delegates can appreciate first-hand the need for relief efforts.

Cindy McCain is in Raleigh today attending a fundraiser for her husband, Sen. John McCain.

The fundraising luncheon was at the home of Dean Painter, a Raleigh businessman who lives on Haymarket Lane, reports Rob Christensen.

The lunch cost $2,300 per person or $10,000 to be a host. The luncheon, which was closed to the press, was organized by Louis DeJoy, a Greensboro businessman, who was a key fundraiser for President George W. Bush.

This was the second trip to Raleigh this summer for Cindy McCain. She also attended the funeral of former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

Update: Frank Donatelli, deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee, said at a press conference this afternoon that Cindy McCain spoke about Sunday's interview with pastor Rick Warren, the invasion of Georgia and other issues.

Brooke Burr, wife of U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, also spoke, and Donatelli gave a general overview of the campaign.

Cindy McCain turned down an interview request from NBC 17, and the McCain campaign would not answer questions about the fundraiser.

"This was such a short trip," Donatelli said. "She was literally in and out."

Between 100 and 150 people attended the event. 

The New York Times has some more numbers on the behind-the-scenes efforts of the two presidential campaigns in North Carolina:

Mr. Obama has spent more than $1.9 million on television commercials here since mid-June. He has opened 16 offices in the state since early July.

His blueprint calls for deploying 625 teams, of four to six volunteers each, to blanket the state’s 2,762 electoral precincts. So far, more than half the teams are in place, each with captains who are committed to contributing at least 10 hours a week. Almost 6,000 volunteers are actively engaged to some degree.

Obama headquarters in Chicago would not confirm the number of paid staff members it had in the various states, but the number in North Carolina is believed to be close to the estimated 150 it has deployed in another battleground state, Missouri, where Mr. McCain is two points ahead.

By contrast, the McCain campaign, which has less money, is relying heavily for resources on the state party and the Republican National Committee. With their help, the McCain campaign opened its office here in the capital on Monday, and six others in the last two weeks. It has a dozen paid staff members and has spent nothing on local television.

Hat Tip: Tom Jensen

The head of the national Republican Party says he's not taking North Carolina for granted.

In Raleigh as part of a voter registration swing, Republican National Committee chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan said that the state will be "in the Republican column" in November, but he said the party will devote significant resources to get-out-the-vote efforts.

"We can't take anything for granted," he said.

Duncan said that the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had an early organizational advantage leftover from the primary effort against Hillary Clinton, but he said that the Republican National Committee will be building up its voter-registration efforts to back John McCain.

Still, he remained optimistic that McCain will carry the state.

Duncan noted that the campaign of Obama has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising in North Carolina but still lags behind McCain in the polls here.

He also said that U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes will win re-election, arguing that the Concord Republican's constituents know he is a hard-worker in Washington.

Duncan added that he and Hayes live in the same apartment building in Washington, D.C., and he frequently sees Hayes coming home after working late.

The head of the Republican Party is coming to Raleigh tomorrow.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert "Mike" Duncan will host a roundtable discussion with local Republican leaders at the state GOP headquarters at 2:30 p.m.

Rich Beeson, the RNC's political director, and Bill Stepien, deputy political director for the John McCain campaign, will also be at the event.

The visit is part of the "Victory 2008 Tour" to various states to promote voter registration, microtargeting, get-out-the-vote and fundraising efforts.

It follows a similar visit by Democratic Party head Howard Dean by 12 days.

The chairman of the Republican National Committee is coming to North Carolina.

Robert M. "Mike" Duncan is on a three-week "Victory 2008 Tour" to meet with state Republican leaders and talk about presumptive presidential nominee John McCain.

"I am excited to meet with the grassroots activists, state leaders, and enthusiastic volunteers who are devoting their time and energy to elect John McCain and Republicans nationwide this November," he said in a statement.

Duncan will be traveling with McCain deputy campaign manager Mike DuHaime, Republican National Committee political director Rich Beeson and strategy director Bill Steiner.

The group will also visit battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Florida. 

The announcement comes on the cusp of a visit Friday by Democratic national chairman Howard Dean on behalf of Barack Obama.

Can the GOP platform be like the Linux platform?

National Republican leaders, led in part by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, today will unveil a website encouraging national participation in shaping the GOP’s 2008 party platform.

The site will create an online community allowing anyone with access to a computer to offer ideas, to comment on others’ ideas, and even to submit videos explaining their views, Barb Barrett reports.

"I feel certain we’ll get some great ideas," Burr said in an interview Thursday. "Will that be the majority? I have no way of gauging."

The Winston-Salem Republican is co-chairman of the Republican platform committee alongside U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California.

The all-inclusive online effort comes as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain continues his work to keep the party’s most conservative and religious members inside the GOP fold and engaged through the November election.

The site also will hand the Republican National Committee a ready-to-go database of contact names for future fund-raising. Users will be required to register in order to comment.

A former Republican Congressional candidate says a fundraising firm cheated her.

Dr. Ada Fisher, a Salisbury doctor who ran unsuccessfully against U.S. Rep. Mel Watt in 2006, told the liberal Web site Talking Points Memo that Washington-based BMW Direct sent her checks too late and kept much of the money.

"They sort of — what shall I say? — screwed me," she told the Web site.

According to the piece, BMW Direct raised more than $400,000 for Fisher during the election cycle, but only about $30,000 made it back to her for use in her campaign. But she said she did not know then that many of the key vendors were run by BMW employees.

"They make it seem like each of these people is a private entity. But as you listen more and more and you get smarter, you realize they all work together," she told the site.

A spokesman for BMW told the Web site that Fisher's case was unique because she started late, but he argued that the direct-mail effort still helped build name recognition. In June, Fisher was chosen for a North Carolina seat on the Republican National Committee.

In recent days, Talking Points Memo has been investigating the firm's fundraising for longshot candidates. 

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr will co-chair the 2008 Republican Platform Committee, giving him some national exposure at the GOP Convention in Minneapolis in August.

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan cited Burr’s work on such issues as health care reform, veterans health care and cutting government waste, reports Rob Christensen.

Burr’s appointment also means there will be a close ally of Republican presidential candidate John McCain helping craft the party’s positions. Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, was an early backer of McCain and stood by him when McCain’s campaign faltered last year.