Faith-based organizations are targeting U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr during the Fourth of July weekend.

A group of national religious organizations including Faithful America and the PICO National Network and are hoping to influence the senators to vote for more affordable family health care by airing radio commercials during Congress' Independance Day recess.

Joe Harvard, of the First Presbyterian Church in Durham, speaks on the commercial airing in North Carolina. "This is not who we are as a nation," Harvard says. "America can do better."

The group is also airing commercials in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana and Nebraska, targeting legislators in those states. They can be heard at the group's Web site.

NOBODY LIKES NOBODY: The popularity recession has settled in for most N.C. politicians. Gov. Beverly Perdue, with basement-dwelling approval ratings less than six months into her first term, travelled the state to rally support from unimpressed teachers and Democrats. The raspberries are bipartisan: both U.S. Senators Kay Hagan and Richard Burr's numbers are down. President Barack Obama is slipping, and his policies are less popular than the man.

SPARE A FEW THOUSAND DIMES? One state resident isn't worried about layoffs. Jeff Wilson of Kings Mountain took home $29 million, after taxes, when his father gave him a Powerball ticket that hit the jackpot. (Gotta figure Wilson is apologizing for having ignored any past fatherly advice). We get this question a lot, so before you ask, the lottery can't fix the state's budget problems because it raises only a small fraction of the state's education spending and state law mandates lottery profits go to four specific programs.

PLASTICS, PESTERING AND POTTY TIPPING: The legislature has been on an outlawing binge. It has banned plastic bags on the coast, bullying in schools and vandalizing portable toilets.

IN OTHER NEWS: The state got most of its deposit money back for a private jet officials decided not to buy after all. A new film production tax credit would lose money for the state at first. And Obama does still occasionally smoke, but that's not why he signed into law sweeping new regulatory authority over cigarettes.

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham is sounding more and more like a U.S. Senate candidate.

The Lexington attorney recently sent out a letter to potential backers letting them know that he is continuing to look closely at seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat held by Republican Sen. Richard Burr next year, Rob Christensen reports.

"It is my goal to see if we can put together an issue-based, professional, independent and progressive campaign that would make you proud," Cunningham wrote in the letter.

"Before I ask you for your support," Cunningham wrote, "I need to make sure I can look you in the eye, show you a path for victory and tell you where I stand on the issues that really matter in the lives of our citizens."

Cunningham, who recently returned from Iraq as an Army lawyer, has been moving around the state exploring a possible Senate bid.

Also looking at the race is Kenneth Lewis, an Obama fund raiser from Durham. Other names being mentioned include N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, U.S. Reps. Mike McIntyre and Bob Etheridge and former state Treasurer Richard Moore.

Neither of North Carolina’s senators are in high standing with voters these days.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican, has a favorable rating of 39 percent and unfavorable rating of 31 percent, with 30 percent having no opinion, according to the InsiderAdvantage Poll conducted by Majority Opinion Research in Atlanta, reports Rob Christensen.

Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, has a favorable rating of 39 percent and unfavorable rating of 39 percent with 22 percent having no opinion, according to the same poll.

Such low ratings for both senators is rare. Tom Jensen, a pollster with Public Policy Polling, said that of 13 states where they did polling, North Carolina and Ohio were the only ones where both senators had an approval rating of under 40 percent.

This is likely more of a problem for Burr, who faces re-election next year. Hagan doesn’t have to face voters until 2014.

The InsiderAdvantage Poll was of 894 registered voters in North Carolina. It was conducted June 22 and had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Sen. Richard Burr's campaign is going on the offensive against Democratic pollster Public Policy Polling, which is publishing a steady stream of polls suggesting Burr's re-election is in doubt.

Politico reports that the dispute hasn't attracted much attention from voters, but is an important fight in Burr's re-election campaign because, "more than anyone else, the Raleigh-based firm is driving the narrative that the first-term GOP senator’s reelection prospects are in jeopardy."

“What they’re doing needs to be put into a proper context. Their goal is to inject themselves into the political debate, and they need to be responsible and say, ‘Our agenda is to promote Democratic candidates,’” said Burr consultant Paul Shumaker.

The company's Tom Jensen stands by its numbers. 

“We’re absolutely rooting in the race. We don’t want Richard Burr to get reelected. We wanted Obama to win last fall,” said Jensen. “But our reputation is predicated on getting it right, and we’re not going to cook the numbers just to tweak Richard Burr’s nerves. They are what they are.”

Hat tip: Gosh

WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration now has authority to regulate tobacco products, under a new law signed this afternoon by President Barack Obama during a Rose Garden ceremony.

With children on stage and sprinkled among audience members, and with the new playground for the presidential daughters in the distance, Obama said the new law will curtail the “constant, insidious” advertising that tobacco companies target to kids, reports Barb Barrett.

He pointed out that nearly 90 percent of smokers start before the age of 18.

“I know; I was one of those teenagers,” Obama said. “I know how hard it is to break the habit once you’ve started.”

Among those at the White House this afternoon was U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Democrat from Wilson, where auctioneers used to rattle off leaf prices after harvest each fall. He represents one of the heaviest tobacco farming districts in the nation.

“This has been a very difficult issue for me,” Butterfield said later. “But when I take a step back and look at it objectively, there’s no question we need to reduce smoking….We need to be realistic about the issue.”

Read more after the jump.

   Comments (0)

Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's expected run for reelection next year was dubbed the 9th most competitive Senate race by the Washington Post today, even without a declared Democratic opponent.

The Post's "The Fix" blog moved North Carolina up from 10th to 9th among competitive races. Blogger Chris Cillizza wrote that "there's not much reliable polling on this race" but characterized Burr as "acting nervous." An internal Burr poll reported in the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call included a hypothetical matchup against Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, who has mused publicly about the race but has taken no visible steps toward running.

University of North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams is more popular among state voters than Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, according to politically irrelevant but still interesting polls conducted by Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling.

The firm did a poll on the statewide popularity of Williams last month and found that 61 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of the coach, who led his team to a national championship earlier this year.

Perhaps to take a break from running hypothetical candidates against Sen. Richard Burr, PPP asked a similar question about Coach K. The result: 52 percent of voters have a favorable opinion. PPP's Tom Jensen also concludes that fans for each school don't hate the other side as much as you might think.

While 68% of Duke fans last month said they had a favorable opinion of Williams, only 53% of Carolina fans say they view Krzyzewski positively. Among State fans 60% had a favorable opinion of Williams, while 51% have one of Krzyzewski. And among supporters of the Demon Deacons 59% like Roy and 53% like Coach K.

Of course the numbers may just serve to make some politicians jealous.

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr might hail from the Piedmont town of Winston-Salem, but any voters wondering where he stands on the important political issue of ‘cue might wonder no more.

Burr will stand up for Eastern N.C. barbecue at a fund-raiser for himself scheduled Wednesday in Washington, reports Barb Barrett.

The "Burr-B-Q Showdown" also will feature Sens. John Cornyn of the Texas beef brisket; Kit Bond of the Kansas City style; and Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander bringing on the Memphis.

Tickets are $2,000 per political action committee and $500 per individual to help host the party; $1,000 per political action committee and $100 per individual to attend. Burr held a similar event last year.

The barbecue dinner, at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is one of several fund-raisers this month in Burr’s honor, according to the Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan government watchdog group.

Last week included a breakfast and a dinner, and next month there is a golf tournament for Burr scheduled at the five-diamond Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.

Burr is running for his second term in 2010.

Sen. Richard Burr, the state’s highest ranking Republican, skipped the state GOP convention over the weekend. He was out on the campaign trail, according to an announcement from the podium.

Filling in for Burr was his son Tyler, who said his father has recently sent 65,000 brochures to new registered voters — something he will continue to do in the coming months, reports Rob Christensen.

Burr, who faces re-election next year, did address the convention by way of a video. He pledged to fight for small government, free enterprise and "conservative values."    Among other things, Burr warned that Democratic President Barack Obama would soon be offering an immigration reform proposal that would include “amnesty” for illegal immigrants.

"I will do everything I can to stop such legislation," Burr said.

Burr also urged Republicans to win control of at least one chamber of the state legislature so that Republicans will have some influence in redrawing new legislative and congressional districts after the 2010 census.

In another video, Michael Steele, the Republican National Committee chairman, criticized Obama administration policies from the growing deficit, to health care proposals, to the stimulus package.

He also criticized the government bailout of General Motors, saying that Obama was now CEO of "Government Motors."