U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell's vote against health care reform legislation ranked as one of the toughest votes in the House, and also one of the most bizarre, according to Washington Post blogger Chris "The Fix" Cillizza.

Cillizza gamed out the five toughest votes for the bill and the same ranking among the votes against it. Kissell, a freshman from Biscoe, was second in the latter category.

"As for Kissell, his 'no' vote is close to inexplicable given the heavy black population in his district (28 percent)," Cillizza wrote, "and the fact that the president carried it by five points last November."

Kissell represents one of the few truly competitive districts in the nation.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards says he is spending his time with his family at their home outside Chapel Hill and volunteering in some anti-poverty efforts in Latin America.

But he has no plans to push to restore his name like former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Rob Christensen reports.

His reputation, Edwards says, "is not something I’m focused on. The only relevance of it at all is my ability to help people. That's the only reason it matters. I'm not engaged in, or interested in, being in a P.R. campaign."

Edwards gave his first extensive interview to The Washington Post since he announced last summer that he had an affair with a former campaign worker.

More after the jump.

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The Washington Post sent a reporter to an eastern N.C. tobacco field over the weekend for its story about Sen. Kay Hagan, the only Democrat in the Senate to oppose FDA regulation of tobacco.

"To call Hagan merely a defender of the "golden leaf" industry would be an understatement," the Post wrote. "She is among tobacco's fiercest backers."

The reporter spent time with farmer Pender Sharp, who raises 500 acres of leaf and was among the farmers who lobbied in Washington before last week’s vote.

Hagan, though, was on a personal trip and unavailable to comment for the story. 

The Fix sees North Carolina's race becoming competitive.

Despite the trouble state Democrats are having finding a candidate to run against U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza included the race for the first time in his Senate rundown this week:

10. North Carolina (R-controlled): State Attorney General Roy Cooper's decision not to run in 2010 makes Sen. Richard Burr's (R) path to a second term next fall easier. But, polling in the state seems to suggest that voters are far from sold on Burr and national Democrats seem to be committed to finding a serious candidate. Their two best remaining options are Reps. Heath Shuler and Mike McIntyre -- both of whom have conservative voting records in the House that would make it difficult for Burr to cast them as liberals. (Previous ranking: N/A) 

Cillizza's options reflect the Washington view that a "name-brand" Democrat is needed for the campaign, although two lesser-known North Carolinians — Kenneth Lewis and Cal Cunningham — have indicated they may run.

Paul Krugman is taking Blue Cross to task.

The liberal New York Times columnist harshly criticized Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina over reports it plans to run a series of ads attacking health care reform.

According to reports in the Washington Post and the N&O, the ads show Americans being prevented from choosing their doctor and forced to wait months by government bureaucrats, though Krugman says many HMO's already do that.

"“We can do a lot better than a government-run health care system,” says a voice-over in one of the ads. To which the obvious response is, if that’s true, why don’t you? Why deny Americans the chance to reject government insurance if it’s really that bad?

Krugman argues that none of the plans currently being discussed would force people into a government-run health care plan.

The ads were prepared by Capstrat, a Raleigh public relations firm.

* Gov. Beverly Perdue bets Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire over the Sweet Sixteen game between Carolina and Gonzaga tonight.

* Perdue will speak at the N.C. Chamber's annual meeting on Tuesday, just after former Gov. Mike Easley receives an award from the group.

* CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will give an afternoon lecture on the campus of Elon University on Tuesday, April 7.

* Former Solicitor General Walter Dellinger remembers his friend, historian John Hope Franklin, in the pages of the Washington Post.

So what is Congressman Etheridge's first name?

Dome and the rest of the capital press corps typically refer to the Lillington Democrat as "U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge."

But the Washington Post repeatedly refers to him as "Bobby Etheridge."

Given the Post's reputation for accuracy, we naturally became concerned and went to the source — or close to it.

Spokeswoman Joanne Peters said Etheridge's first name is actually "Bobby," and he went by it when he was younger. Though he now goes by "Bob," he doesn't mind if people use the more casual form.

Nexis seems to prefer Bob. Only 351 references to "Bobby Etheridge" could be found in the archives of state newspapers, while 2,619 came back with "Bob Etheridge." 

Leroy Towns thinks the Washington Post got it wrong.

The UNC-Chapel Hill professor says a recent post by blogger Chris Cillizza that called Sen.-elect Kay Hagan's the best Senate campaign in the country was "flat wrong."

Democrat Hagan ran a terrible campaign in her defeat of Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole. She won because the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ran a brilliant campaign, placing more than $11 million in TV ads. The DSCC ran three of the best ads in the nation: the Rocking Chair series that painted Dole as old and out of touch. 

Towns also notes the old saying that "when you win you are considered brilliant." 

The Fix has named Sen.-elect Kay Hagan's campaign the best of 2008.

Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza named the Greensboro Democrat's successful run against Sen. Elizabeth Dole as the best Senate campaign in a post today.

He noted that Hagan got into the race after better-known candidates such as Gov. Mike Easley and Rep. Brad Miller passed it up, started as a virtual unknown and stayed on message despite attacks. He also added that she got a major boost from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Hagan got into the race as a virtually unknown candidate both in North Carolina and nationally, but quickly showed a capacity to raise money that opened the eyes of many people in Washington. On her first trips to the nation's capital, she wowed even the most cynical of party operatives with a charisma about campaigning and a no-nonsense approach to what needed to be done to beat Dole.

In the end, Cillizza notes, Hagan beat Dole 53-44.

He gave an honorable mention to Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's ad has been dinged again.

Writing on a Washington Post blog about the worst leadership performances of 2008, leadership coach John Baldoni criticized Dole's last-minute "Godless Americans" attack ad on rival Kay Hagan.

Fearing that her campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate was losing, she approved a television ad against her opponent calling her "godless." The voters of North Carolina ignored the ad and elected Kay Hagan, a former Sunday school teacher and Presbyterian elder (as well as an accomplished state senator), as their senator. Ms. Dole may have helped her re-election cause if she had been more visible; voters perceived that she spent too much time in D.C. rather than in her home state.

Baldoni gave the ad the "Trash My Opponent Award."