Sen. Elizabeth Dole gave her farewell address on the Senate floor on Wednesday.

The North Carolina Republican used her final floor speech to pay tribute to many mentors, beginning with several family members such as her grandmother, whom she called Mom Cathey, her parents, siblings and nephews, Lisa Zagaroli reports.

Dole thanked several presidents as well: Richard Nixon for her years on the Federal Trade Commission, Ronald Reagan for her appointment as secretary of transportation, and George H.W. Bush for her job as secretary of labor.

"We've worked hard," she said in thanking her Senate staff. "We had some fun along the way too. And we made a positive difference for North Carolina and America."

Of her husband, Bob, the former senator from Kansas, she said he was a constant example that "a leader should have not only a strong backbone, but also a funny bone."

"I could never have dreamed of the people I've been privileged to meet, the jobs I've been privileged to hold or the issues I've been privileged to influence," said Dole, who lost her re-election bid to Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat.

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt about working hard at "work worth doing," Dole said, "While I don't know what awaits me in life's journey, what will come next, I pray that I'll find a way to continue to work hard at work worth doing."

If Bob Orr goes on safari after the May primary, we'll know why.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate writes on his blog that he's been reading "The River of Doubt," a book about Theodore Roosevelt's trek to South America after his 1912 defeat:

In many ways that journey and the book's title, "The River of Doubt" reminds me occasionally of this campaign for governor. While the challenges of a statewide campaign hardly compare to the physical challenges Roosevelt experienced, the mental challenges certainly seem similar.

To recap, Roosevelt faced "starvation, Indian attacks, disease" among other things—all of which reminds the former Supreme Court justice of this campaign.

Fundraising must be tougher than we thought.