What’s interesting to see is that Obama would do better in the state if either Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., or former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C, were on the ticket. However, he would do worse of Democratic Gov. Mike Easley had the No. 2 spot on the Democratic presidential ticket.

Guess which category North Carolina is in? No, not the “red” Republican state. It’s considered in the toss-up states.

Of course 270 electoral votes are needed to win.

When the toss-ups are awarded, based on which candidate has a narrow lead, Obama wins with 272 electoral votes compared to McCain’s 266.

Public Policy Polling notes in its latest survey that Libertarian Party presidential nominee Bob Barr, a former Georgia U.S. Republican representative, would poll 6 percent in the state if the election were held today. His number stays the same on both potential Democratic nominee scenarios.

The poll shows Republican Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain leading Democratic Illinois U.S. Sen. Barack Obama by 43 percent to 40 percent. McCain leads Democratic New York Sen. Hillary Clinton by 39 percent to 34 percent.

In the race for governor, Libertarian Party nominee Michael Munger, who heads the Political Science Department at Duke University, has 4 percent. The Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue of New Bern, has 43 percent. The GOP nominee, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has 39 percent.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole has expanded her lead over the Democratic nominee, state Sen. Kay Hagan, from five points to eight points. Dole now leads Hagan by 47 percent to 39 percent.

Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and her Democratic challenger, state Sen. Kay Hagen of Guilford County, appear ready to make it an issue.

Dole has released an ad touting her work in helping establishing immigration enforcement programs with some of North Carolina’s sheriffs.

The ad includes a number of sheriffs, including Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson, commenting on her work setting up a statewide effort to help sheriffs get into immigration enforcement.

Hagan’s office has criticized the ad and Dole. A press release notes an immigration roundtable that Hagan just hosted with some of North Carolina’s sheriffs. The campaign says that Dole has only proposed a patchwork solution.

The immigration issue remains unresolved in Washington. And it’s certainly one that needs to be addressed.

It likely will be a hot campaign topic until Congress addresses the issue.

Democratic nominee Beverly Perdue was also at 16 W. Jones St. Perdue, the state’s lieutenant governor, gaveled the Senate session to order as the 2008 short session of the General Assembly got under way.

Campaign workers seem optimistic. They’re planning on a big night. Late surveys showed their candidate up on Treasurer Richard Moore by as much as 18 percentage points.

Signs on the highway outside the hotel make it obvious that this is where Perdue will be tonight. Democratic state Superintendent June Atkinson has rooms in the same building.

An interesting side note: A sign in the men’s bathroom, with a Bev Perdue patch on it, reads in red and blue letters, “THANKS PERDUDES.”

Meanwhile, the race for the Republican nomination for governor is tight.

The PPP shows Obama, the Illinois senator, with 53 percent. Former first lady and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has 43 percent. Obama leads Clinton by 63 percent to 34 percent among those who have already voted.

In the race for the Democratic nomination for governor, Perdue has 51 percent, compared to state Treasurer Richard Moore’s 33 percent.

The GOP gubernatorial race is much closer. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory has 39 percent. Johnston County state Sen. Fred Smith has 35 percent.

The most recent poll shows that former first lady and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has halved the lead of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential preference primary. However, Obama still maintains a 51-39 percent lead.

In the race for governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue now leads state Treasurer Richard Moore by 14 points, 47 percent to 33 percent.

The GOP gubernatorial race has tightened. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory now leads Johnston County state Sen. Fred Smith by just 5 points, 36 percent to 31 percent. Neither of the other major GOP candidates, Salisbury attorney and activist Bill Graham and former N.C. Supreme Court justice Bob Orr, have reached double digits.

In the race for U.S. Senate, GOP incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Guilford County state Sen. Kay Hagan appear to have comfortable leads for their party’s nomination.

PPP plans one more poll before next Tuesday’s primary.

In my column and blog, I posed a couple of questions:

1. Should Obama’s pastor be a factor in the North Carolina gubernatorial election?

2. Is it appropriate to hold a candidate responsible for the political views of a religious leader of the candidate’s chosen affiliation?

One email regarding my column said it was “a stretch” when I mentioned that other candidates in the past have been asked to square their views with those of their religion. Another suggested that someone who sits in the same church for 20 years and listens to such views and doesn’t change churches either agrees with the views or “is just plain stupid.”

A response to a previous blog post had some not-too-kind words to say for the N.C. GOP.

My above two question remain.

The state Republican Party is sponsoring an ad chiding the two for endorsing Obama. The ad shows Wright delivering one of his controversial messages and identifying him as Obama’s “spiritual mentor.”

“They should know better,” the ad says of Moore and Perdue. “He’s just too extreme for North Carolina.”

Click here to see the ad on YouTube.

Should Obama’s pastor be a factor in the North Carolina gubernatorial election?