Vance, Aycock have a D.C. presence, too

It's not just the N.C. Democratic Party that honors Vance and Aycock.

The state of North Carolina and the federal government also have chosen to honor former Govs. Zebulon Baird Vance and Charles Brantley Aycock.

Statues of the two men are on display at the U.S. Capitol building.

The statue of Vance is in the National Statuary Hall, a sort of Hall of Fame for each of the 50 states that doubles as a "spin room" following the State of the Union. The Vance statue stands alongside such notables as Ethan Allen, Sam Houston and Jefferson Davis.

The statue of Aycock is in the Crypt, directly below the Capitol Rotunda and near the gift shop.

The Vance-Aycock Dinner, an annual fundraiser for state Democrats named for the two men, drew controversy last year when some officials protested the two men's records on civil rights.

Vance was governor during the Confederate era, while Aycock participated in the 1898 Wilmington coup.

Cabinet humor

Senate leader Marc Basnight's recommendation of Lanny Wilson to lead the state Transportation Department has Chris Fitzsimon thinking of ideas for other Cabinet posts: How about country singer Randy Parton to lead Cultural Resources?

The satirical nomination from Fitzsimon, executive director of N.C. Policy Watch, comes after Basnight suggested Wilson for secretary of transportation to Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue.

"Wilson may be a nice guy, but he is the epitome of a DOT political insider, the folks who have run the department for years and damaged its credibility with the public," Fitzsimon writes on the Fitzsimon File blog. "Wilson is exactly the kind of guy Perdue promised not to appoint if she was serious about her plans for DOT reform."

Fitzsimon points out that Wilson, a lawyer, developer and longtime Democratic fundraiser, gave $38,800 to Democratic candidates this election cycle, including $4,000 to Perdue.

Burr be wary

Ferrel Guillory figures Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr ought to get crackin' now for his own re-election bid in 2010, saying recently that Democrats will be infused with new energy with the wins of both Barack Obama and Kay Hagan, who defeated incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

"Kay Hagan winning certainly will send a signal that Sen. Burr is going to have a strong Democratic opponent," said Guillory, a longtime political reporter now at UNC-Chapel Hill. "Sen. Burr will be on notice the next two years that he's got his work in front of him, both to be a productive senator and a good campaigner. Certainly he'll learn some lessons from Sen. Dole, too."

Among those lessons, he said, is to come back in North Carolina often. That shouldn't be as much a concern for Burr, who returns home to Winston-Salem most weekends to be with his wife. Dole lives in the Watergate apartments in Washington with her husband, former Sen. Bob Dole.

Hagan's reading list

Hagan has some reading to do.

While in Washington for three days of training, the Greensboro Democrat was given a list of good reading for new senators.

Though a staffer volunteered to get all the books on the two-page list, Hagan demurred, saying she wouldn't have time to read them all yet. But she said she intends to work her way through the list eventually.

She already has one book that was given to her by a fellow senator.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, gave Hagan a copy of "Nine and Counting," a 2000 book about the then-nine women serving in the U.S. Senate.

"That would be airplane reading," Hagan joked.

Of course, the book might be due for a new edition. With Hagan taking Dole's place and Sen.-elect Jeanne Shaheen taking office, the number of female senators will soon be up to 17.