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CORRECTION

tems in two Under the Dome columns this month, on Monday and Dec. 6, gave incorrect information on the career of Dave Phillips, who has been nominated to be U.S. ambassador to Estonia. He served as Commerce secretary under Gov. Jim Hunt.

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David Bonior, a former top Democratic congressman from Michigan and a key ally of organized labor, is expected to manage John Edwards' likely 2008 presidential campaign.

Bonior has been hired as a senior adviser to Edwards' leadership PAC, the One America Committee, Kim Rubey, a committee spokeswoman said Tuesday.

But Bonior's role on the One America Committee is expected to morph into the job of Edwards' campaign manager if, as expected, Edwards announces in the coming weeks that he will run for president.

The One America Committee has been negotiating for space in the Southern Village development in Orange County that would likely become Edwards' campaign headquarters if he gets into the race.

In choosing Bonior, Edwards is bringing in someone with strong ties to organized labor. Edwards is counting on labor to help his campaign get off to a fast start in the Iowa and Nevada Democratic caucuses in January 2008. Last week, Edwards was in Los Angeles in support of hotel workers seeking a living wage law.

Bonior served 26 years in the House, rising to become the second-ranking Democrat before running for governor of Michigan in 2002. Since then, he has been a professor of labor studies at Wayne State University in Detroit.

The selection of Bonior is likely to underscore Edwards' "Two Americas" theme about economic disparities that was central to his 2004 presidential campaign, as well as his emphasis on reducing poverty.

Bonior sees himself as a spokesman for the forgotten blue-collar workers. He was a leading opponent of the North American Free Trade Agreement, calling it "basically the sellout of [American] workers."

Dreams of Estonia

Another GOP fundraiser from North Carolina may be bound for a foreign embassy.

President Bush on Tuesday nominated furniture magnate and former N.C. Commerce Secretary Stanley Davis Phillips of High Point to become the next ambassador to Estonia.

Phillips was a Ranger (highly productive fundraiser) in Bush's 2004 re-election bid.

He also gave $250,000 to Bush's inaugural committee that year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington.

Phillips is chairman of Phillips Industries in High Point. He served as commerce secretary under Republican Gov. Jim Martin and now is on the national board of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.

If the Senate confirms Phillips' nomination, he would replace another Tar Heel, Aldona Zofia Wos. Wos, the former Bush-Cheney finance co-chairwoman for North Carolina, began her service in Estonia in August 2004.

Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million people, is a former republic of the Soviet Union that gained independence in 1991.

Chertoff calls on Price

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff paid a visit to U.S. Rep. David Price on Tuesday, spending about half an hour chatting with the Chapel Hill Democrat.

Chertoff requested the meeting in anticipation of Price becoming chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Homeland Security, said Price's spokesman, Paul Cox.

Cox would not describe what the men discussed, calling it a "get-to-know-you-better" meeting. Joining Chertoff was Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson, the agency's chief operations officer.

Price has criticized the organization of the department and has said he would like to strengthen the appropriations subcommittee's oversight role of the agency. He is expected to become chairman when the Democrats take over Congress.

'Hardball' in Chapel Hill

The live broadcast of MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" from UNC-Chapel Hill will occur Tuesday. The program initially said in a news release that it would be Monday, but it was changed.

The event will be broadcast live from Memorial Hall. Tickets are free and were available first to students, faculty and staff with a UNC One Card. If any tickets remain, they will be made available to the public at 10 a.m. today at the Memorial Hall box office.

John Edwards will be Matthews' guest for the entire one-hour program.