Sen. John Edwards hinted on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Tuesday night that he was close to entering the 2008 presidential race, and Democrats close to the former North Carolina senator said he could make it official next month.

Stewart, the comedian and host of the popular Comedy Central network show, pushed Edwards to make an announcement, noting that Edwards had tipped his plans on the same show in 2003.

"Actually, I do have an announcement," Edwards said. "Just between us. If people go to my Web site, JohnEdwards.com, over the next few weeks, they may see something new and exciting."

Cracked Stewart: "Do you have a shower webcam?"

The Edwards campaign wouldn't comment any further. But Edwards is widely expected to enter the race in December, filing the campaign committee papers so he can start raising money.

Although no final decision has been made, Edwards will likely set up his national campaign headquarters in Chapel Hill, near his new home.

In 2004, it was in West Raleigh and at its peak had a campaign staff of more than 60 people.

Edwards, meanwhile, was studio-hopping in Manhattan plugging his new book, "Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives."

Besides "The Daily Show," Edwards was on ABC's "Good Morning America," PBS' "The Charlie Rose Show," Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" and NPR's "Fresh Air." Today he is scheduled to be on CNN's Wolf Blitzer program. On Friday, he will be on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and next Wednesday he will be on Martha Stewart's syndicated TV program.

He is also on a multi-city book tour that will include a stop in Raleigh on Monday.

Courthouse visit

House Speaker Jim Black's executive assistant, Meredith Swindell, spent roughly three hours Wednesday at the federal building in Raleigh, where a grand jury has been looking into Black's legislative and campaign activities for more than a year.

Swindell and her attorney, Rick Glaser of Charlotte, had no comment as they entered the building about 12:45 p.m. or when they left afterward.

She is one of four former or current legislative staffers to Black who have visited the federal building when the grand jury is meeting.

Swindell became Black's executive assistant in 2002 after starting out in the legislative office as an administrative assistant. In February, she testified before a State Board of Elections probe into the political campaigns of Black and former Rep. Michael Decker.

Black has not been charged in the case.

Identity-free GOP?

Conservatives poked through the rubble of last Tuesday's mid-term elections and decided that North Carolina Republicans didn't do a good enough job in providing a coherent message or raising enough money.

At a luncheon sponsored by the Civitas Institute, Jack Hawke, the president of the conservative think tank, said the Democrats had a substantial money advantage.

In the 12 most competitive state House districts, the Democrats spent $2.7 million and Republicans spent $932,000. In the Senate key races, Democrats spent $4.5 million while Republicans spent $2 million.

Hawke released a post-election poll that showed the only issue that Tar Heel Republicans were strongly associated with was opposition to illegal immigration.

While 25 percent of the voters polled associated the Democrats with improving education, only 4 percent of the voters associated Republicans with the issue. On health care, 21 percent of the voters thought the Democrats were trying to improve health care, while only 12 percent associated the issue with Republicans.

"In the state of North Carolina, the Republican Party has no identity," said Hawke, a former state GOP chairman. "There is no issue that the voters pick out and say this is what Republicans stand for."

The poll of 800 people who voted in the mid-term elections was conducted by Tel Opinion Research of Alexandria, Va., and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.