Perdue wants North Carolina to friend you

Gov. Bev Perdue wants state agencies on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Many state agencies already have a presence in social media. For example, Perdue's office has a Facebook account, and the N.C. Department of Transportation provides traffic updates through Twitter.

Perdue said social media networks should be used to help make state government more open and transparent.

"Social networking is not the next big thing. It's here now, and state government must stay current if we are to be fully transparent and accountable to the public," Perdue said in a news release (whichDome received via e-mail but whichwas also announced on Twitter).

"I encourage all state agencies to take advantage of social media to increase communication and interaction with the citizens of North Carolina."

Perdue's policy focuses on some obvious dos and don'ts - personal information and opinions don't belong on state agency accounts.

But the policy also stresses that all social media communication is to be considered a public record. If a state resident sends a message through Facebook, that message is public just as if it had been sent to a state government e-mail account.

GOP pulls close

A recent poll shows that voters are almost evenly split on whether to vote for Democrats or Republicans in the legislature.

Public Policy Polling asked 593 North Carolina voters which party they would prefer if legislative elections were held today. According to the poll, 43 percent would vote Democratic, 42 would select a Republican and 15 percent were undecided.

PPP's Tom Jensen says the numbers look promising for Republicans, who have been the minority party in the legislature for most of the last 100years.

"As we begin 2010, Republicans probably do have their best chance since 1994 of grabbing control of both houses of the General Assembly," Jensen said. "Of course a lot could change between now and November - it would have been hard last December to imagine things looking as dreary for Democrats as they do right now."

The Senate is tantalizing to Republicans because several seats in competitive districts will be open next year.

The poll, which was conducted Dec. 11-13, had a margin of error of plus or minus 4percentage points.

Seeking serenity

Democratic political consultant Mac McCorkle picked the right time to study a theologian.

Reinhold Niebuhr, who is sometimes credited with writing the "Serenity Prayer," has become a subject of renewed interest since scholars have begun to focus on Niebuhr's influence on President Barack Obama.

The New Republic notes that McCorkle, who took time off from campaigns and advising Gov. Bev Perdue to study at the Center of Theological Inquiry, has written an article about Niebuhr's influence on politics. McCorkle says liberals need to read up on Niebuhr.

"President Obama's honeymoon with the liberal-left appears to be ending as his efforts on behalf of health care, financial, and other reform grow more ideologically questionable," McCorkle writes. "But before a divorce happens, both parties need counsel from one of the President's favorite political philosophers - Reinhold Niebuhr."