Edwards is vacationing at Walt Disney World in Florida this week, fueling speculation that he's not going to endorse either Democratic presidential candidate before the May 6 primary.

But then, another vacation turned out differently.

In July 2004, Edwards took his family to Disney World for a vacation, leading many to declare he was not John Kerry's vice presidential pick.

As it turned out, Edwards had slipped away, catching a flight to Washington to meet with Kerry.

Both Obama and Clinton have met with Edwards already to no avail.

McCrory's lead cut

State Sen. Fred Smith is cutting into Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory's lead in the Republican primary for governor.

According to a recent tracking poll by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, McCrory was the choice of 36 percent, followed by Smith at 31 percent.

Salisbury lawyer Bill Graham had 6 percent, and former state Supreme Court justice Bob Orr had 5 percent. Twenty-one percent were undecided.

The automated survey of 622 likely Republican primary voters was conducted April 26-27. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Cheney drops in

Dick Cheney stopped by Tom Fetzer's place Monday.

The vice president came for a fundraiser for the N.C. Republican Party's political victory fund at the Raleigh political consultant's apartment on Hillsborough Street.

About 70 people came to the event, said Fetzer, a well-known consultant and former mayor of Raleigh. He said it was the first time he has hosted a major fundraiser.

"The White House and the Secret Service come in and they turn you upside down for about two or three days," he said.

Fetzer said Cheney spoke about the war in Iraq, the state of the nation and his hopes to leave the presidency and the vice presidency "in good hands" next year.

"He's different than most politicians," Fetzer said. "He's very reserved, very soft-spoken, but very knowledgeable, not bombastic in any way. I think that people here really enjoyed his remarks."

No, it's not Lamont

"Lamont Williams" also made calls in Ohio.

The bogus robocaller -- being hunted by the State Board of Elections for misinforming black voters in North Carolina -- also made calls in Ohio last year, the Facing South blog reports.

Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies, found the connection with help from a reader:

"Facing South has learned that these calls -- even down to the name of the supposed caller -- are very similar to calls used last year in Ohio."

Universities faulted

A new report from a nonprofit research center suggests that North Carolinians aren't getting their money's worth from the state's universities.

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity's new report says that although North Carolina spends more than $7,000 per student for higher education, far above the national average, the state lags in several areas. The report's findings include:

* Despite North Carolina's spending 6.7 percent of the state budget on higher education, the state finds that 18.6 percent of high school freshmen eventually earn a college degree.

* As of 2006, 25.6 percent of the state's population had obtained a bachelor's degree, falling below the national average of 27.2 percent and the rates of nearby states such as Virginia (32.1 percent) and Georgia (28.1 percent).

* Despite financial aid, between 2000 and 2004, the average annual financial burden for students increased by $760 at four-year public schools and by $1,364 at four-year private schools.

* Many schools spend from 20 percent to 40 percent of their revenue on instruction. A few community colleges spend 50 percent.

The study recommends that North Carolina shift some funding from the institutions to the students. One method could be the use of vouchers for low-income students, tied to performance as an incentive to graduate on time.

The study also proposes charging tuition by department, so that courses with less overhead would have lower fees.

The study was at least partly funded by the John William Pope Foundation of Raleigh, which supports the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, a frequent critic of policies and curricula at UNC campuses.

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