North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley seems to be enjoying politicking at the Democratic National Convention.

Easley, who normally eschews politics, has been busy working the convention.

He has been attending fundraising receptions for the Democratic Governors Association, has given more than 20 interviews to reporters and is speaking to delegations from such states as Kansas, Michigan, Arizona and Virginia.

Easley told North Carolina delegates Wednesday that Republican John McCain would have a difficult time in the state for two reasons: the Iraq war and a troubled economy.

Easley also expressed skepticism about the value of drilling for oil off North Carolina's coast.

He said the oil companies already have 38 million acres off the Gulf Coast where they are not drilling. He said drilling off the North Carolina coast had the potential to provide six months' worth of oil for the U.S.

"This is not a solution," Easley said. "This is a slogan."

Gantt's legacy

Easley also told delegates that Harvey Gantt's U.S. Senate races laid the groundwork for Barack Obama in North Carolina.

"We've got a score to settle," Easley said.

Gantt, Charlotte's first African-American mayor, beat Easley in a runoff to win the 1990 Democratic Senate nomination. He went on to lose to Republican Sen. Jesse Helms that year and again in 1996.

"We had a chance to elect the first African-American statewide in North Carolina, and we came that close and fell short," Easley said.

Later Easley told reporters the Gantt campaigns "showed that race is something you can transcend, and I think Barack Obama has done that."

Cold comfort

Which former Democratic vice presidential candidate -- John Edwards or Joe Lieberman -- would be less welcome at the Democratic National Convention?

That was the question that The New York Times put to several convention delegates. Their completely unscientific conclusion?

Lieberman, who is campaigning for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, is the bigger pariah.

"Edwards was only unfaithful to his wife. Lieberman was unfaithful to an entire party," Massachusetts delegate Phil Johnston told the Times.

Churchier than thou

Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole is attacking Democratic challenger Kay Hagan for raising money from "anti-religion activists" at a coming event in Boston.

Hagan is scheduled to appear Sept. 15 at a fundraiser held by author Wendy Kaminer and her husband, Woody Kaplan.

Both are leaders of the Secular Coalition of America, which advocates for atheists and humanists in public policy. Kaplan also sits on the advisory board of the Godless Americans political action committee, whose Web site says it advocates for nonbelievers.

Dole's campaign said the pair are on the "left-wing fringe of political thought."

In a news release, Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said: "Kay Hagan does not represent the values of this state; she is a Trojan horse for a long list of wacky left-wing outside groups bent on policies that would horrify most North Carolinians if they knew about it."

In response, Hagan's campaign tried to tie Dole more closely to President Bush, pointing out that Dole was scheduled to attend a fundraiser this week at the Tampa, Fla., home of Alfred Austin, a Bush "Ranger" in the 2004 election.

"This is a desperate attempt to distract from the simple fact that it's Elizabeth Dole who's out of touch with North Carolinians," said Hagan spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan.

Flanagan also pointed out that Hagan routinely attends church services around North Carolina during campaign swings.

(Dole, too, often attends church services across the state when she is in North Carolina.)

Perdue lead is steady

Public Policy Polling has some new numbers out in the governor's race, but they look pretty much like the old numbers.

Democrat Bev Perdue continues to lead Republican Pat McCrory in the latest survey. The new numbers are 43 percent for Perdue, 38 percent for McCrory and 4 percent for Libertarian candidate Michael Munger.

PPP surveyed 904 likely voters Aug. 20-23. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

Tom Jensen of PPP says that McCrory, the longtime mayor of Charlotte, is having trouble getting traction elsewhere in the state. He says McCrory leads 54 percent to 33 percent in the greater Charlotte area but "trails in every other region of the state."

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