Beverly Perdue is trying to offset recent ads critical of Charlotte.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate has taken some heat from her opponent and Charlotte officials for a recent ad arguing that Republican Pat McCrory cares more about the Queen City than the rest of the state, though a Democratic pollster says it may be helping her in other parts of the state. 

To counteract the publicity, Perdue's campaign has been pushing a letter to the editor signed by Charlotte's mayor pro tem Susan Burgess, a Democrat.

"I know both candidates personally," she wrote. "I served with Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory on the City Council for seven years, and I've seen first-hand Perdue's work as lt. governor. She is the leader we need during these difficult times."

In an interesting twist, the letter ran yesterday in the Durham Herald-Sun — 145 miles from Charlotte. 

Beverly Perdue and Barack Obama are side-by-side in a new mailer.

The N.C. Democratic Party paid for the mailer, which feature's the party's gubernatorial and presidential candidates and the words "Democrats we trust to fight for us."

The photograph of the two dates to the run-up to the May primary, when it was used by the Perdue campaign in a mailer targeted at black voters.

In a sign of how competitive North Carolina has become, the new mailer was sent to a larger group of voters, including unaffiliated and white voters.

"Bev Perdue's campaign to create jobs and fight for our economy has been endorsed by the leaders we trust, including Senator Barack Obama, North Carolina teachers, police, nurses and over a dozen mayors across the state, including former Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt and current Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess," it reads on the back side.

Joe Biden will be in Charlotte Sunday.

The Democratic vice presidential nominee will be in a town hall meeting Sunday, the first time any of the major national party candidates will be in town since the conventions, Jim Morrill reports.

Biden is scheduled to appear at a 4 p.m. fundraiser at the South Charlotte home of Crandall Bowles, wife of UNC system president Erskine Bowles.

Bowles was a strong supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton during the primary. Another co-chair of the event is Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Susan Burgess, who also supported Clinton.

Supporters will pay $1,000 to $15,000 to attend the fundraiser.

Update: Biden will speak at the Phillip O. Berry Academy in Charlotte at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets will be distributed at the Obama campaign offices in Charlotte and Gastonia on Saturday from noon to 9 p.m.

Could the Democratic convention come to Charlotte in four years?

It will if Susan Burgess has anything to say about it, reports Jim Morrill.

Burgess is Charlotte's mayor pro tem and a member of the Democratic National Committee. She wants to push for the next convention to be held in the Queen City. A few years ago, local Republicans talked about hosting their national convention in the city, but Charlotte didn't make the cut.

"It's because we didn't have the hotels," said Burgess. In recent years, hotels have gone up, a rail line has opened and Uptown has a new arena. By 2012, there not only will be more hotels but more  museums and attractions, Burgess said.

She said the economic impact of a convention is "tremendous."

The superdelegates in North Carolina mostly backed Barack.

Here's a breakdown of the state's 19 superdelegates in the Democratic presidential primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Clinton

Gov. Mike Easley
U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler
Susan Burgess, Charlotte Councilwoman

Obama

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield
U.S. Rep. David Price
U.S. Rep. Mel Watt
U.S. Rep. Brad Miller
Jerry Meek, N.C. Democratic Party chair
Dannie Montgomery, N.C. Democratic Party vice chair
Everett Ward, former Democratic Party director
Joyce Brayboy, public policy lobbyist
Jeanette Council, Cumberland County commissioner
Muriel K. Offerman, Democratic National Committee
David Parker, Statesville attorney
U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge
U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre

Carol Peterson, Buncombe County commissioner
Two delegates to be named at the state convention.

Forget red states and blue states. At the Legislative Building today, it was red t-shirts and blue name tags.

Residents against forced annexation wore the shirts, and the pro-annexation N.C. League of Municipalities wore the name tags. All were there to talk to legislators about their issues, Lynn Bonner reports.

The anti-annexation folks are trying to pressure the legislature to approve a one-year freeze on forced annexations. They said they did not want to be forced to pay taxes for services they don't need.

The protest became irreverent at times, One woman had an anti-annexation bumper sticker attached to her pants. She said she pressed her rear end to the glass of the Senate gallery door so those inside could see her message.

They have some legislators behind them.

More after the jump.

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Susan Burgess, a superdelegate from Charlotte who supports Hillary Clinton, said she wants the senator to run for vice president this year, and told a member of her staff that morning.

"I sense a division in our party that must be breached," Burgess said. "The best way to do that is to run together on the dream ticket."

Burgess said Clinton has tremendous influence among the electorate. "She has more leverage than anyone in America with millions of voters behind her,"' Burgess said.

North Carolina mayors say fighting the growth in gangs is not a partisan issue.

But when they walked into the legislature today to advocate for anti-gang legislation at a news conference, only Democrats were given the microphone, reports Dan Kane.

State Sen. Malcolm Graham, a Charlotte Democrat who led the news conference, said Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy and Charlotte Mayor Pro-Tem Susan Burgess were invited to speak because they are leaders of statewide municipal organizations.

Foy leads the Metrolina Coalition of N.C. Mayors; Burgess is president of the N.C. League of Municipalities.

Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory, the Republican candidate for governor who has long advocated for gang prevention measures, could only stand along with roughly two dozen mayors, police chiefs and lawmakers in the legislature's room for news conferences.

He said he was invited to the news conference, but not to speak.

"I didn't mind not talking," McCrory said. "I do wish that they had a little bipartisanship up there."

He got his opportunity. Reporters and TV cameras swarmed him once the event ended.

Joyce Brayboy has endorsed Barack Obama.

The Democratic superdelegate, whose day job is as a Washington, D.C.-based lobbyist, made the decision recently.

Previously, she told Dome that she would study both candidates' electability and their stances on health care and education before making a decision.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield and two other superdelegates, Everett Ward and Dannie Montgomery, are also backing Obama, while Charlotte City Councilwoman Susan Burgess backs Hillary Clinton.

Susan Burgess has known Hillary Clinton since before she was First Lady.

The Charlotte City Councilwoman, currently serving as mayor pro tem, will be a superdelegate at the Democratic National Convention, and so far she's the only one from North Carolina committed to Clinton.

She and her husband met the Clintons in 1990 at a Renaissance Weekend in Hilton Head, S.C. She said that the New York senator is much different from her public image.

"She is a very warm and wonderful person," she said.

Burgess, 61, was chosen as a superdelegate because she is currently chairing the National Democratic Municipal Officials Conference. She served as a regular delegate at the 2000 convention and on the rules committee in 2004.

She said she's also impressed with Barack Obama, however. Could she see herself voting for him in the right circumstances? 

"Of course I would, but not on the first ballot," she told Dome. "On the first ballot, I'm committed to Hillary Clinton."