Gov. Beverly Perdue says there's a good reason why she didn't join most of the nation's other Democratic governors in signing a letter supporting health care reform.

Perdue says she was too busy with an economic development trip to consider the letter.

The letter was assembled by the Senate Majority Leader and the Democratic Governors Association, Talking Points Memo reports.

It's a standard letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner, telling them states "will only achieve the health care security and stability they need if we succeed in working together with the Congress and the President to achieve health care reform."

Perdue was one of six Democratic governors who did not sign the letter. Talking Points Memo and some bloggers have read the missing signatures as a sign of how tough the health care battle is.

In North Carolina's case, that may be overstating things. Perdue was given a copy of the letter Wednesday between meetings, Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said.

"She didn't feel she had enough time to give it due consideration," Pearson said. "Her focus that day was the trip to New York City. It was a very grueling schedule."

Pearson said Perdue agrees with the points made in the letter.

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U.S. Rep. Brad Miller is calling out President Obama.

In an interview with the liberal blog Talking Points Memo yesterday, the Raleigh Democrat said he's not convinced the new Treasury Department is much different than the old one.

"I want change I can believe in," he said. "I don't think we have change I can notice."

Miller, who has worked on banking issues since he was elected in 2002, said he does not think the department led by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has been responsive or transparent in its handling of bailed-out banks and financial insurer AIG.

"I don't feel a lot of confidence in all of this, because I don't have much idea what they're doing," he said, adding that he is a "fairly conscientious member" of the House Financial Services Committee.

He also charged that Goldman Sachs had "a lot of influence" over the AIG bailout. 

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. 

Kay Hagan is taking her campaign to the blogosphere.

The ad at right showed up today on Talking Points Memo, a popular blog led by Washington-based reporter Josh Marshall. It links to the Web site for Hagan's campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

"Kay Hagan for U.S. Senate," it reads. "An effective voice in Washington for North Carolina."

Talking Points Memo definitely leans left, but it features more aggressive reporting on issues such as the firing of U.S. attorneys than the political commentary typical on sites like the Daily Kos.

The ad, a Google ad and recent outreach to progressive group blog BlueNC show that Hagan, who has been spurned by some in the netroots, is making an effort to reach out.

Update: A spokeswoman for Hagan said the ad only runs when visitors to Talking Points Memo have IP addresses registered in North Carolina. 

One of John Edwards' top advisers says his rivals are now seeking an endorsement.

Joe Trippi told a reporter for the Talking Points Memo that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are already trying to get him to endorse them.

"They're banging down the doors," he said.

Trippi also said that he does not expect Edwards to endorse today. 

Josh Marshall says the question is not why John Edwards should withdraw, it's why he has to.

In a post on Talking Points Memo, the liberal blogger writes that as long as the former North Carolina senator has enough money to spend and wants to run, he should:

First, as others have noted, his campaign has had an effect on this race out of proportion to his poll support in as much as he's forced the two other leading candidates to grapple with issues they would not have otherwise. And in this race specifically, there is at least a chance we could come into the convention with neither candidate having a majority of the delegates, in which case he might play the kingmaker. Not likely, but not impossible.

Marshall also says he does not know whether an Edwards withdrawal would help Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton more. 

Eric Kleefeld argues that John Edwards was the big winner of second choicers after all.

In a post on the liberal blog Talking Points Memo, Kleefeld points out that the entrance polls showed Obama at 35 percent, Clinton at 27 percent and Edwards at 23 percent.

If we assume that the final state delegate numbers actually approximated the votes of the caucus participants, this means John Edwards was the big second-choice winner, as he boosted his final score by seven points, compared to only three points for Obama and two for Hillary. It was enough to just overtake Hillary for second place, but not enough for first — because it turned out that Obama entered as the clear winner from first choices alone. 

U.S. Rep. Brad Miller will live blog the subprime mortgage problems today.

In a group discussion on the popular Web site Talking Points Memo, the Raleigh Democrat will talk about his legislation:

Congressman Miller's bill would give some homeowners caught in upside-down loans the chance to write down the loan to the value of the home and put the homeowner in a long-term, fixed mortgage. The bill is designed to reduce the number of foreclosures, not by putting them off with a temporary rate freeze, but by moving some families into long-term mortgages they can afford.

The discussion will be from 11 a.m. to noon at TPMCafe.