Even as he praised Congress' passage of legislation allowing federal regulation of tobacco, President Obama apparently is still trying to kick the habit.

Asked about it during Friday's daily press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs didn't get into specifics, but suggested Obama hasn't made a clean break.

Here's a compilation of the Q&As, scattered throughout the briefing:

Q: I'm wondering if smoking continues to be a struggle for the president.

GIBBS: I think the president would likely tell you, as I think many, anybody would that has, that has smoked or been addicted to smoking that it is a — it is a lifelong struggle.

Q: Is it a daily struggle for him?

GIBBS: Well, I — since days are comprised within your lifetime, I would — I think that's covered.

Q: Do you know, does President Obama still sometimes smoke?

GIBBS: I, I, again, I would simply tell you, I think it's a, struggling with a nicotine addiction is something that happens every day.

Q: One more on smoking. During the campaign, the then-Senator Obama chewed Nicorette with some regularity. Is he still doing that?

GIBBS: I saw him chewing gum earlier today. I don't know whether, I didn't ask him...

What recession, wars, rogue nuclear nations?

N.C. State University grad Robert Gibbs has the White House press corps in stitches, reports Rob Christensen.

During his first four months as President Barack Obama’s press secretary, there have been 600 instances of laughter during his briefings according to Politico.

Yes, somebody is keeping count.

Dana Perino, George W. Bush’s last press secretary, elicited 57 laughs in her first four months. Scott McClellan, another Bush press secretary, got just 66 laughs in his first four months.

Gibbs even got more laughs than Tony Snow, the fast-quipping Bush press secretary, who got 217 laughs during his first four months.

Conservatives view all this laughter darkly — signs that the White House press corps is cozying up to the Obama administration.

But N.C. State hasn't had a lot to laugh about lately — with the subpeonas and all that — so maybe it's good that one Wolfpacker is enjoying himself.

President Obama called Coach Roy Williams last night.

On board Air Force One, the president phoned the UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball coach to congratulate him on the team's win over Michigan State in the NCAA championship.

"The President offered Coach Williams his congratulations and thanked him and his team for vindicating him in front of the entire country," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs in a statement.

Obama had picked Carolina to win in his NCAA bracket. He also played a pickup game with the team during last year's primary.

"The President told him he’d done a great job and asked the Coach to tell the players how proud he was of them and that he looked forward to seeing them at the White House soon," Gibbs added.

No word on what Gibbs, an N.C. State grad, thought of the game.

A spokesman for President Obama took a timeout from politics today.

Opening up a press briefing shortly before 2 p.m., White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, a graduate of N.C. State, called on Charles Babington, an Associated Press reporter who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill (and used to cover Washington for the N&O).

"Mr. Babington, start us off?" he said. "Let the record reflect that an N.C. State alum has asked a Tar Heel to start the questions."

Babington made reference to the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Atlanta.

"Very kind of you," he told Gibbs. "And good luck tonight."

Gibbs added: "In the spirit of what can only be said is bipartisanship."

The brief exchange drew laughs from the roomful of reporters, though the question Babington then asked — about a missile strike in Pakistan — quickly turned the briefing in a more serious direction.

Barack Obama, and what he will do next, were among the things of interest to Dome readers this past week. Here's a look at the top posts from Election week:

1. Obama will win N.C. The news came late Tuesday night - or early Wednesday morning - that it looked like North Carolina was going to turn blue.

2. The Wolfpack in the White House? Could it be that a former N.C. State University soccer goalie could be the next White House press secretary? Let the speculation begin.

3. NAACP condemns Obama casket. An anti-Obama bumper sticker in Craven County drew a rebuke from the NAACP and the N.C. Republican Party.

4. Hunt mentioned as potentional ed secretary. Will North Carolina's former "education governor" become Obama's education secretary? The speculation continues.

5. Roy Cooper N.C.'s most popular Democrat. So, does Cooper wonder about whether he could have been North Carolina's new U.S. senator?

Who knew that serving as a goalie for N.C. State University's soccer team would come in so handy years later for Robert Gibbs?

Gibbs, who many expect to become the new White House press secretary for Barack Obama, played goalkeeper at N.C. State from 1990-92.

"To be a goalkeeper, you have to be a very special person," said his former coach, George Tarantini. "People remember only the goals. No one remembers how many saves you make."

Hmmm. sounds like pretty good training for a guy about to face the national press corps on a daily basis. (N&O)

Is a Wolfpacker about to become the White House spokesman?

Politico, quoting unnamed sources, says that Robert Gibbs will be the White House press secretary for Barack Obama.

Gibbs, who served as communications director for Obama's campaign, was born and raised in Alabama. But he went to college at N.C. State, and his parents live in Apex. Gibbs once worked for U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge of Lillington.

U.S Rep. Bob Etheridge may not be that close to Barack Obama, but his former staffers are.

Two former staffers for the Lillington Democrat are now working for the Democratic National Committee, according to the Washington Posts' The Fix blog.

Brad Woodhouse served as a policy aide and then press secretary Etheridge's for nearly five years before leaving to work for Erskine Bowles' 2002 campaign against Elizabeth Dole. He previously worked for Gov. Jim Hunt's administration.

He will now share communications duties at the national party with other staffers.

Woodhouse has a close relationship with Robert Gibbs, a spokesman with Obama's campaign. Gibbs worked as Etheridge's press secretary, leaving to join John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign and later the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

When he left that job, he was replaced by Woodhouse.

Barack Obama Friday launched his first TV ad of the North Carolina primary.

The 30-second ad features Obama's message of "fighting for the middle class and promoting jobs," according to Obama communications director Robert Gibbs, Rob Christensen reports.

In the ad, Obama says he will  to fight to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, Gibbs said.

Gibbs said the ad buy was "significant" and was running across North Carolina, but did not provide any specifics on the cost.

Hillary Clinton, who made her first campaign swing across the state on Thursday, has not yet aired any TV commercials in North Carolina's May 6th primary contest.

The Obama campaign also announced that as of today it had opened 13 offices across North Carolina in all the major cities as well as in some smaller communities such as Elizabeth City and Hickory. The campaign headquarters are in Raleigh.

More after the jump.

   Comments (1)

Barack Obama's campaign says Hillary Clinton is "waving the white flag" in North Carolina.

In a conference call this afternoon, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs attacked a Clinton spokesman's statement that North Carolina and other so-called red states are "virtually irrelevant" to the Democratic candidate in the general election.

"You have ... the Clinton campaign basically ruling out North Carolina in the general election and already waving a white flag," he said. "We believe this speaks to their weakness in those states as a general-election candidate." 

He added that Obama would consider North Carolina "a major battleground" if he is the Democratic nominee.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, an Obama supporter, noted in the call that unaffiliated voters now account for nearly 20 percent of the electorate in North Carolina.  

"I don't accept the notion that we are a red state," he said. "Traditionally, we may have been red in years past, but the American people are looking for leadership and they are looking across party lines."

Gibbs recalled his senior year at N.C. State in 1992, when Bill Clinton lost to George H.W. Bush by less than a percentage point.

"There is a history of it being a swing state recently," he said.