It's fair to say that was the first State of the State to be tweeted.

Gov. Beverly Perdue's first speech to the legislature was touted as historic because she is the state's first female governor, but it may be recalled as well as the first to be micro-blogged on the popular site Twitter.

A sample of the live reactions to the speech: 

* "who cares? It would only be interesting had Munger won." — Sam Spencer

* "Anyone else think it's ironic that the hashtag for the state of the state address is #ncsos? Guv'nah Bev's sending out an S-O-S!" — Ben McNeely

* "Perdue: "We don't have time for talk-show political posturing or petty partisan games." Not Political Connections I hope? lol" — Tim Boyum, News 14 North Carolina host

* ""Vocational, CC, or college" .... Glad to see McCrory at least influenced debate on the issue." Ryan Radford

* "Governor just called me out for twittering while she talks. Well me and people actually there" — Will Cubbison, Young Democrats labor chair

* "Great example with the flight attendant from the Miracle on the Hudson flight, but "Sheroes"? Really?" — Joe Colletti, John Locke Foundation

* "Brace yourself for a Gov. O. Max Gardner reference. Gardner was governor during the great depression, spent money rather than cut." — Mark Binker, Greensboro News-Record reporter

To read the full discussion, go to search.twitter.com and type #ncsos

Will you be watching the State of the State tonight?

Then come join the conversation on Twitter about Gov. Beverly Perdue's remarks.

We here at Dome will be posting our analysis, links and other research about the governor's address to the legislature on our Twitter feed, twitter.com/ryanbeckwith. We'll also be blogging longer pieces here on Dome.

(For the uninitiated, Twitter is a kind of micro-blog where you can post 140 character messages quickly and easily.)

But it won't just be one way. If you want to join in, post your own thoughts on Twitter with the hashtag #ncsos. (Just include that weird hash mark and combination of letters in your tweet to allow us to find your remarks, which we may reference in our coverage of the speech.)

News 14 North Carolina's Tim Boyum will also be tracking that hashtag for his coverage.

Call it "preaction."

Yesterday, Dome noted on our Twitter feed that we had received an e-mail giving a member of our Congressional delegation's reaction on President Obama's speech — a few hours before he actually gave it.

Now, this stirred up some trouble on another blog, so we thought we'd just lay out what we were talking about.

This kind of advance notice is de rigeur in Washington. Reporters working on a tight deadline want to know what their representatives have to say; representatives want to get in the newspaper the next day.

In the old days, that meant a hurried conversation in a Capitol hallway, then a short phone call. Then staffers started e-mailing statements. Finally, they started sending them ahead of time.

Of course, they're not making it up out of nothing. Obama's handlers gave a pretty detailed preview to both reporters and members of Congress the afternoon before the speech.

But then, that just points out the kabuki-like nature of the ritual. Obama gave a speech to people who already knew what he was going to say, while reporters noted the reaction of those same people to what they knew he would say.

We print media types often make fun of TV news reporters.

It's a natural rivalry. Television news often piggybacks off the local newspaper, it runs fewer corrections and yet its reporters still make more money and are more popular with the public than us.

Still, done right, TV news is a hard business, and the best reporters work as hard and carry heavier equipment than the rest of us.

Tim Boyum is one of those good guys. Dome has run into the News 14 reporter on the campaign trail off-and-on since we started this gig, and we've been consistently impressed. He gets his facts right, conducts a good interview and doesn't rip off our headlines.

He's also run a blog, Political Connections, which has managed to score a few scoops of its own.

On Thursday, Boyum announced on his blog that he'll be moving over to the anchor chair, which means he won't be out in the field as often.

We wish him the best of luck in his new job.

Tim Boyum spotted a few more state pols in the crowd.

On his Political Connections blog, the News 14 Carolina reporter notes that he spotted state Sen. Vern Malone, Reps. Verla Insko and Susan Fisher and NAACP president William Barber in the audience for a Barack Obama speech at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

Update: James Romoser spied state Sen. Linda Garrou too. 

Tim Boyum spotted former Gov. Jim Hunt at a rally for ... Barack Obama.

On his Political Connections blog, the News 14 Carolina reporter writes that he saw Hunt at a rally on Wilson, and Obama pointed him out in the audience.

"Is it an endorsement or just someone who wanted to see the event?" he wrote.

An Obama endorsement would be highly unexpected.

Many of Hunt's former top staffers and supporters are serving on Hillary Clinton's campaign committee, he has strong ties to Bill Clinton as a former Southern governor and he recently appeared with his wife at a Clinton rally in Wilson.

A nod from Hunt would be one of the five endorsements that would matter. (U.S. Reps. Mel Watt and David Price are for Obama, while Gov. Mike Easley is for Clinton. Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards is not likely to endorse.)

It's also possible that Hunt wants to remain neutral and he attended the Obama rally to counteract the impression he gave by going to a Clinton rally. 

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle is keeping his mouth shut.

At a press conference today, the Barack Obama surrogate said that he has talked with Gov. Mike Easley, whom he has known since they were both attorneys general.

But he would not reveal what Easley's thinking. The North Carolina governor is a superdelegate to the national convention, but he has not revealed who he is supporting.

Tim Boyum of News 14 Carolina pressed Doyle on the question again later. 

"He says they have talked about the presidential race but would not say an ounce of what was in that conversation," Boyum writes on his blog.

Tim Boyum says a few senators joined the House today.

On his Political Connections blog, the News 14 Carolina reporter says that it wasn't just House members in the chamber today for Thomas Wright's expulsion:

Curiosity apparently got the best of the Senate as well. At least 10 Senators sat in the back of the House Chamber at one time or another. That included Majority Leader Tony Rand, Sen. Brock, and Sen. Jenkins among others.

That would be Sen. Andrew Brock, a Mocksville Republican, and Sen. Clark Jenkins, a Tarboro Democrat.

One of North Carolina's superdelegates was also at the Barack Obama event in Fayetteville this morning.

But don't jump to any conclusions.

News 14 Carolina's Tim Boyum has the scoop on his Political Connections blog:

Jeanette Council, who is Cumberland County's only superdelegate, was also on hand. She says she's still undecided. In fact, she said her feet are firmly set right in the middle. My guess is she'll get a call from the Clinton campaign for any events in the state!

That leaves North Carolina's 17 superdelegates split: Four for Obama, one for Hillary Clinton and 12 undecided.

The Black Caucus will meet tomorrow to discuss Rep. Thomas Wright, reports Tim Boyum of News 14 Carolina:

The Legislative Black Caucus is meeting tomorrow and supposedly Rep. Wright is on their agenda. There have been reports some members want to ask their colleagues to vote for censure instead of kicking him out of office.