Christensen:  Some 500 journalists gathered Wednesday at the Time-Warner Cable Arena, some from news outlets as far away as Japan and Qatar, to get a look at the site of the Democratic National Convention that will be held in 232 days.

Christensen:  Some people may have been surprised when Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue was booed at the Carolina-Miami basketball game last week.

Christensen:  Last week, the Republican legislature convened a post-midnight special session for the sole purpose of gut-punching one of their foes - the N.C. Association of Educators.

Christensen:  Every year I bring out my very cracked crystal ball and predict what will happen in the world of North Carolina politics and government, something I have done the past 19 years.

Christensen:  With the winding down of 2011, it is time to think of passages. Here are 10 people in North Carolina politics who died within the past 12 months.

Christensen:  If you have a history or politics lover on your Christmas list this season, and you haven't finished your shopping, I have a few recommendations of recently published books.

Christensen:  The Republican presidential primary has been both entertaining and easy to lampoon: with the Herman Cain sex scandal; The Donald, the Sarah Palin tease, and the Rick Perry brain lock just for starters.

Christensen:  The women have been coming forth with stories about presidential candidate Herman Cain's wandering hand. There's John Edwards, and there's Newt Gingrich. Saints have been in short supply in politics recently.

Christensen:  If Erskine Bowles is worried, then I'm worried. Bowles, a past president of the University of North Carolina system, knows more about balancing the federal budget than most.

Christensen:  Wake County voters Tuesday said they had enough bitter partisan wrangling and opted for more unity and stability in the leadership of North Carolina's largest school district.

Christensen:  Authorities were helpless as thousands of illegal immigrants poured across the Mexican border searching for economic opportunity.

Christensen:  The leak of a poll last week confirmed what many in local Democratic Party circles had been privately saying: that in a primary showdown between Democratic Congressmen David Price and Brad Miller, as in the TV quiz show, The Price is Right - or at least the right choice.

Christensen:  Like Lewis Carroll's Cheshire Cat in "Alice in Wonderland," the political middle is disappearing. At the rate we are going, pretty soon the only thing left of the middle will be the mischievous grin.

Christensen:  Brad Miller may have been the first congressman to attend one of the current round of anti-Wall Street rallies when he made an appearance at a gathering last Sunday in Raleigh's Moore Square.

A quote in Rob Christensen's column on Wednesday's front page did not fully identify the speaker.

Christensen:  The Democrats rode a powerful tide in the polls Tuesday night, winning the Raleigh mayor's race and making a strong bid to recapture control of the Wake County school board.

Christensen:  "State for Sale" reads the headline in the current edition of The New Yorker.