Pat McCrory canceled two campaign events Monday to return to his day job and tend to the gas shortage and sale of Wachovia in Charlotte.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate scrubbed a "Meet the Candidate" lunch at Fat Buddies Ribs & Barbecue in Waynesville and a rally at the Transylvania County Republican Party headquarters in Brevard.

McCrory scheduled a late morning news conference in Charlotte.

Democrats already have taken a shot at him for his campaigning during the gas crisis, chiding him for attending fundraisers and riding in a parade in Benson on Saturday.

McCrory and other officials in the state, based on information from Gov. Mike Easley's office, said last week that a large shipment of gasoline on Friday would help put the system back to normal. But shortages persist, as do long lines, short tempers and gas pumps covered in plastic bags.

GOP goes after Perdue's record

A new mailer from the Republican Governors Association is attacking Beverly Perdue's record.

The mailer, which repeats the "Status Quo" button motif from its television ads, asserts that the Democratic gubernatorial candidate is responsible for "job killing tax increases," "crippling debt" and "lost jobs."

"North Carolina is going in the wrong direction," the mailer says. "And career politician Bev Perdue promises, 'I will do exactly what's been done before.' "

As noted previously, that statement is taken out of context, as Perdue was talking about creating an independent panel to look into offshore drilling.

Triad attuned to debate

Maybe it's because Barack Obama was coming to town. Or maybe he came to town because of it.

Whatever the reason, the presidential debate Friday night was widely viewed in the Triad.

In fact, the Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem market was the sixth-highest by household rating, according to the Nielsen TV ratings company's blog.

That translates to about 285,000 households.

MSNBC sees N.C. as tossup

MSNBC says North Carolina is a presidential tossup.

On their First Read blog, the network's editors write that North Carolina could go to either Obama or John McCain.

"As the slew of recent national and state polls suggest, our new map reflects a shift in Obama's direction," they write. "What's interesting about these shifts is that while Obama is showing an improvement in fast-growing states (CO, FL, NV, NC, VA), he can't seem to put away the Northern tier states of slow-growing states (MI, PA, WI) or make progress in what some believe is still the all-important state of OH."

This is the highest ranking given to Obama's chances here by a nationally known political team so far this election season.

Still, the big three see a slight advantage for McCain.

Last week, Congressional Quarterly downgraded North Carolina to "Leans Republican." The Rothenberg Political Report ranks it as "Leans McCain." And the Cook Political Report lists it as "Leans Republican."

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