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Republican Sen. Richard Burr filed for re-election Monday, saying he thought his record of supporting small government and low taxes was in tune with Tar Heel voters.

Burr said Congress has been at odds with public opinion on such issues as health care, tax policy, spending and debt, Rob Christensen reports. 

"I continue to be disgusted with the amount of spending that Congress continues to undertake, the size of the debt," Burr said at a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Winston-Salem. "As the father of a 24 and 25-year old, the most important thing that I can do is to positively impact the future of my children and eventually my grandchildren."

He said his special focus will be in trying to restart the economy. He said he was also "passionate" about finding a market-based solution to the health care problem, noting that he has been a vocal critic of Democratic plans now being considered by Congress.

Although this year looks like an anti-incumbent year, Burr said he believes he has a record he can take to the voters. Burr starts the race with relatively low favorability ratings. Burr said that is a reflection of North Carolina being a high growth state, where many voters did not live in the state when he first won in 2004, defeating Democrat Erskine Bowles.

Burr said he expected to raise at least $15 million for his campaign. But he also said was also wary of the 2008 campaign in which the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spent $11 million on behalf of Democrat Kay Hagan to help defeat Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Burr said the key was to make sure the North Carolina Senate race was not close this fall, and therefore not a target of national Democrats .

Karl Rove, the chief strategist for President George W. Bush, will be coming to Raleigh next month to help raise money for the re-election campaign of Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr.

Although details have not yet been announced, Rove agreed to be the headliner at a fundraiser on Jan. 28 in Raleigh, Rob Christensen reports. The event is being put together by Louis DeJoy, a Greensboro businessman who was state finance chairman for the McCain-Palin ticket in 2008. Also helping out is Jim Cain, a Raleigh lawyer and former U.S. ambassador to Denmark who was also a Bush fundraiser.

Rove was not only closely associated with Bush, but he also helped recruit both Burr and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole to run for the chamber.

Rove appeared at a Winston-Salem fundraiser for Burr when he ran in 2004 against Democrat Erskine Bowles. Since leaving the White House, Rove has worked as a political analyst for Fox News, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.

Another North Carolinian's name is being floated for a move to Washington.

UNC president Erskine Bowles has reportedly been considered by president-elect Barack Obama's transition team for a post.

Washington would be familiar terrain. Bowles headed the Small Business Administration for the Clinton administration in 1993, worked as White House deputy chief of staff from 1994 to 1995 and as chief of staff from 1997 to 1998.

He was rumored to be interested in a position in a potential Gore administration, but ended up running unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2002 against Elizabeth Dole and in 2004 against Richard Burr.

As a former investment banker, Bowles is knowledgeable about finance, though his term at the helm of one of the country's most respected university systems could also give him an edge for an education post.

Though he is a lifelong Democrat, Bowles is also well-known for his ability to work well with Republicans, so a position requiring a bipartisan wrangler might be in the offing.

When asked to confirm the rumor, Bowles deflected.

"I'm very happy where I am, doing what I am doing," he wrote Dome. "I thought the rumor of the day was (former Gov. Jim) Hunt."

Previously: North Carolinians who might be under consideration

Update: Bowles tells Dome he has not been contacted about a post in Obama's administration.

Six years ago, Republican Elizabeth Dole reacted with alarm when Democratic Senate opponent Erskine Bowles, a wealthy former investment banker, dug deep into his own pocket.

"TAKE A LOOK AT THIS," she wrote in an e-mail to thousands of supporters in October 2002. "My opponent loaned nearly $3 million of his personal wealth to his own campaign We expect him to use even more of his personal wealth to finance his negative television and radio ads."

"I do not have that kind of personal wealth," Dole wrote. "So, to continue setting the record straight I must be able to count on the generous support of friends like you."

Dole's electronic plea raised thousands of dollars for her campaign, Jim Morrill reports.

Now Dole, running for a second term against Democrat Kay Hagan, has loaned her own campaign $3 million.

According to an analysis of disclosure forms by the Center for Responsive Politics, only six senators are wealthier than Dole. She had holdings valued at between $18.5 million and $69.2 million.

In 2002, she reported family assets of up to $23 million.

Time was North Carolina Democrats skipped the convention.

In 2000, then Attorney General Mike Easley skipped the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, hoping to keep his gubernatorial campaign distinct from Al Gore's.

In 2004, Easley skipped the convention in Boston to nominate John Kerry, as did Senate candidate Erskine Bowles.

In both cases, their advisors said they were too busy here in North Carolina to attend, even though U.S. Sen. John Edwards was on the ticket. 

Meantime, state Republicans have been happy to attend their conventions.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Patrick Ballantine and Senate candidate Richard Burr went to the 2004 GOP conventions.  

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole even spoke at the 2000 and 2004 conventions in New York for George W. Bush and gave a memorable speech at her husband's 1996 convention.  

Well, times have changed.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is a rock star.

Some Dome readers who are not fans of the Salisbury Republican objected to our characterization of her as a "rock star" in a post today.

For the record, the term is a reflection of her name recognition and ability to woo voters on the stump, not an endorsement.

Still, don't take our word for it:

USA Today headline: "'Rock star' Dole protects lead in key Senate race." (July 1, 2002)

Durham Herald-Sun: "Dole had become a rock star of the political world without ever holding an elected office. (Sept. 5, 2002)

George Stephanopolous, former adviser to Bill Clinton and ABC News host: "She's a political rock star." (Char-O, Nov. 10, 2002)

Harvey Gantt, on Erskine Bowles' race against Richard Burr: "I don't think we're running against somebody who has the status of a rock star. ... I do not know Mr. Burr very well, but I would not think he has the status of a Liddy Dole." (Char-O, Sept. 25, 2003)

Bowles, again on Burr: "I'm not running against a rock star." (GN-R, Sept. 12, 2004)

Greensboro News & Record: "By contrast, political analysts frequently use the term 'rock star' to describe Dole's name recognition and appeal." (Sept. 5, 2007)

Charlotte Observer: "Pundits like to say she has rock-star qualities on the stump." (Char-O, Nov. 4, 2007)

Burr: "If you really want to know what Elizabeth Dole is like, she's a rock star." (N&O, Feb. 22, 2008)

Kay Hagan impressed at least one Beltway insider.

The Democratic Senate nominee met with members of the Washington press corps earlier this week, and her chat with the Washington Posts' Chris Cillizza bumped her up a notch in the competitive rankings on his blog, The Fix: 

8. North Carolina (R): Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) knows she is in for a very tough race against state Sen. Kay Hagan (D). Witness her decision to begin running ads in recent days that tout her ability to deliver for the state -- ads that never make mention of her party affiliation or President George W. Bush. It's a sound strategy in such a difficult political environment, but you can bet Hagan and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will do their darndest to ensure every voter in the state knows Dole voted with Bush more than 90 percent of the time in her first term. Having now met Hagan in person, we can testify that she is a talented candidate and, as a woman, will be in a better position than 2002 nominee Erskine Bowles to attack Dole aggressively. (Previous ranking: 9) 

Doug Heye says Hillary Clinton will have a hard time winning North Carolina.

A spokesman for U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's successful 2004 campaign, Heye writes on his blog on the National Review Online that demographics favor Barack Obama in the Democratic primary.

He argues Clinton will have a hard time competing in areas around military bases, among black voters and with college students here.

He also says she may be hurt by her husband's presidency, citing the failed campaigns of Erskine Bowles for U.S. Senate.

Judging solely from the literature and advertising from the Bowles campaign, one would have been hard-pressed to realize Erskine Bowles had ever met Bill Clinton. A campaign ad touted Bowles’s experience as a White House chief of staff — including a picture of Bowles in the Oval Office — but left it to the voters to determine which president he had served under. Reagan? Carter? Nixon? McKinley?

He points out that Bowles' opponents, Burr and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole were the ones who brought up Clinton in those races.

UNC president Erskine Bowles, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole take in the second half of the UNC vs. Clemson basketball game on Sunday in the Smith Center. Bowles ran unsuccessfully against Dole in the 2002 Senate race. (Robert Willett)

The new 2008 Almanac of American Politics — a sort of political bible for Beltway junkies — landed on Dome’s desk last week smelling of fresh ink. The book is crammed with trivia.

The 1,800-page tome, published by National Journal, has details on voting records, election opponents and inside baseball on every member of Congress, Barb Barrett reports.

A few bits from the Triangle delegation:

* On Sen. Elizabeth Dole: "During the 2005-06 cycle Dole spent relatively little time in North Carolina and ended the year with only $245,000 cash on hand." The entry goes on to list all the Democrats uninterested in taking her on: Gov. Mike Easley, Mary Easley, Erskine Bowles, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Treasure Richard Moore, Attorney General Roy Cooper and Rep. Brad Miller.

More after the jump.