Read this at your own risk

There is no good reason to read this column. In fact, put it down. Go read the weather page, the obituaries or the comics.

This is the 16th year I have written a predictions column. And boy, did I get just about everything wrong last year.

I predicted that Hillary Clinton would win the Democratic nomination for president and choose Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh as her running mate. I predicted John McCain would win the GOP nomination and choose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as his running mate.

I predicted that McCain would now be preparing now to take office as president.

In North Carolina, I predicted that Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole would defeat Democratic challenger Kay Hagan and that Democrat Beverly Perdue would be elected governor, defeating Republican Fred Smith. I also had Republican U.S. Reps. Robin Hayes and Walter Jones winning re-election. Hayes lost; Jones won.

This was, by far, the worst year I've had in political prognosticating.

There were two major flaws in my thinking. I did not foresee the economy tanking when Wall Street had its fall meltdown. The financial collapse sealed the deal in the presidential contest and helped undo Dole and Hayes.

I also underestimated the political skills of President-elect Barack Obama and the country's willingness to accept a black presidential candidate. And I did not foresee Dole's lackluster campaign, or the national Democratic Party's pouring millions into the state to defeat Dole.

Despite my horrendous year, I'm going forward with my predictions for 2009.

1. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker will win re-election to a fifth two-year term. Even with the economic slowdown, Raleigh is on a roll -- an up-and-coming city with construction cranes dotting the skyline. In his quiet way, Meeker has dominated this decade of city politics.

2. Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, will take steps to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr in 2010. Cooper is the Democrat that North Carolina Republicans most fear. Burr will step up efforts to make himself more visible.

3. Gene Conti will be the new state transportation secretary. He has the background in transportation and the political connections to get the most high-profile Cabinet post in a Perdue administration. This will let Perdue keep her promise to make DOT less political.

4. Dempsey Benton will keep his job as Health and Human Services secretary. The former Raleigh city manager is respected across party lines for his managerial skills in a nearly unmanageable department.

5. As Perdue deals with a $2 billion budget shortfall and budget cuts galore, she will wonder at times why she wanted to be governor. She will have to postpone much of her campaign agenda for better times. She will recommend to the legislature that it raise the state's cigarette tax.

6. Organized labor will gain a major foothold among public employees in North Carolina when Congress passes legislation to allow law enforcement personnel, including correction workers, to bargain collectively to negotiate contracts. Once prison guards and police get contracts, it will be hard for state officials to block other public employees from bargaining collectively.

7. Hampton Dellinger and Ripley Rand will be named two of the state's new U.S. attorneys. Both Democrats have strong ties to Obama and to Hagan.