Airport spokeswoman Mindy Hamlin said the extra costs for law enforcement and administrative duties during Bush's June fundraiser for GOP gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory were at the higher end for a high-profile visit.

She said a quick stop by a presidential candidate or the April visit by Vice President Dick Cheney typically costs about $3,000, but the higher cost for Bush was because of the size of the motorcade, the needs of Air Force One, and Secret Service requests.

Taxpayers did not really foot the bill. The airport's roughly $80 million budget comes from contracts with airlines and vendors, though it receives $12,500 apiece from Wake and Durham counties and the cities of Raleigh and Durham.

Raleigh police did not spend anything extra. Spokesman Jim Sughrue said the department rearranges policing schedules to provide security for high-profile visitors to avoid overtime expenses since they are routine in the capital, though that means fewer police officers were on the beat the rest of the week.

Burr wants health priority

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says health care should be on the list.

The Winston-Salem Republican is one of a handful of first-term senators who are trying, without much luck, to make health care an issue in the November races, the National Journal reports.

"When was the last time you saw a Republican presidential candidate lead on health care?" said Burr, who has long supported presumptive GOP nominee John McCain.

Polls show more voters trust presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama on the issue.

But Sen. John Ensign of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said that the fall elections will be focused on the issue of energy, specifically offshore drilling and high gas prices.

The other McCain

Four state Democrats want the legislature to honor John McCain.

But not that John McCain.

State Reps. Jean Farmer-Butterfield of Wilson, Joe Tolson of Pinetops, Marvin Lucas of Spring Lake and Martha Alexander of Charlotte filed a bill to honor Dr. John L. McCain, a Wilson County physician who died in 2005.

Dr. McCain has at least one thing in common with his namesake. Like the Republican presidential candidate, he served in the Navy, although it was during World War II, not the Vietnam War. Unlike the other McCain, he was appointed to a national advisory board by President Carter.

Obama co-sponsors

How closely have North Carolina's senators worked with Barack Obama?

A quick search of legislation filed this session shows that U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have each co-sponsored one bill with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Dole signed on to an Obama bill that would create a list of people with significant investments in Iranian energy, to encourage state and local governments to divest their holdings.

Burr signed on to an Obama bill to accelerate research into the genetic causes of disease in order to improve medical diagnoses.

Obama has not signed on to any Dole- or Burr-sponsored bills.

McCain co-sponsors

How often have North Carolina's senators worked with John McCain?

A quick search of legislation filed in recent years shows a handful of bills which U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr have co-sponsored with the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Burr signed on to four McCain-sponsored bills: imposing sanctions on the Burmese junta; creating a federal gas-tax holiday this summer; requiring illegal immigrants to pay back taxes before becoming citizens; and designating a National Mentoring Month.

Dole signed on to the Burmese sanctions and the mentoring month, plus an amendment to name a military spending bill for Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican.

In addition, McCain signed on to two Dole bills: recognizing the Lumbees as a tribe and awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to Tony Blair, former British prime minister.

McCain did not sign on to any Burr-sponsored bills.

Perdue, McCrory almost tied

The governor's race remains close.

According to a recent survey by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beverly Perdue had 42 percent, Republican rival Pat McCrory had 41 percent and Libertarian Mike Munger had 5 percent.

Twelve percent were undecided.

The automated survey of 1,048 likely voters was held June 26-29. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.