Gov. Beverly Perdue and other elected officials will make history at this month’s meeting of the North Carolina Council of State.

Perdue presides Tuesday over her first council meeting since being elected governor in November. It’s also the first meeting in which there’s a female majority on the council, comprised of 10 statewide elected officials.

Six of the 10 are women following the elections of Beth Wood as state auditor and Janet Cowell as state treasurer.

The council usually approves land transactions on behalf of the state and signs off on borrowing decisions.

The gathering will probably take a somber tone after Monday’s death of former Insurance Commissioner Jim Long. He served on the council for 24 years before retiring last month.

NEW YORK – For all the talk of new politics and a new start with a new administration, the media person who has emerged as the chief voice of opposition during the first week of Barack Obama’s presidency – Rush Limbaugh – has been doing this for 20 years.

The talk-radio titan said, days before Obama was sworn in, that he hoped Obama failed because he didn’t believe in the incoming president’s policies.

It’s kept him in the headlines ever since, to the point where MSNBC on Thursday asked: “Is Rush running the GOP?” The day before, every Republican House member voted against Obama’s economic stimulus plan, a bill Limbaugh has ridiculed as the “porkulus” plan.

“Obama was trying to marginalize me,” Limbaugh said. “His hope was that the House and Senate Republicans would join him in denouncing me. Didn’t work.”

When Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, tried to praise his House leadership this week by saying it’s easy for talk-show hosts to stand back and throw bricks, the headline on the Politico Web site read: “House GOP member to Rush: Back off.” Gingrey was so bothered by the phone calls of complaints that he visited four conservative talk-show hosts, including Limbaugh, the next day to apologize.

Limbaugh, he said, was a conservative giant and one of the “voices of the conservative movement’s conscience.”

Can it get any better for a personality whose business is built on buzz?

“Rush Limbaugh is first and foremost a radio performer,” said Michael Harrison, publisher of the trade journal Talkers magazine, which notes that Limbaugh has been the most listened-to talk-show host since at least the mid-1990s. “He’s not a political leader. He doesn’t make more money by turning elections. He only exists to gather large audiences and raise more advertising revenue and he does it terrifically.”
 
(Limbaugh is heard on some 600 radio stations across the country, and more than 14 million people listen to him at least once a week.)

Yet count columnist Michael Wolff, writing in the Huffington Post, as one who believes Limbaugh is “being played.”

He could prove valuable to the president, who has sought bipartisan support for many of his plans and romanced Republicans in his first week in office. Being able to point to an opponent like Limbaugh could help him with the millions of Americans for whom the message of ending partisan bickering rang true on Election Day.

Obama even cited Limbaugh in seeking support for his economic plans.

“You can’t just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done,” he said. “There are big things that unify Republicans and Democrats. We shouldn’t let partisan politics derail what are very important things that need to get done.”

Wolff wrote that he believed the dinner Obama had with conservative columnists before his inauguration was a pointed snub to Limbaugh.

“He’s tried to make it out to be a political point ever since,” he wrote, “but mostly he sounds like a guy who’s hurt he didn’t get invited to the hot party.”

Asked about Wolff’s comments, Limbaugh said, “Who?”

Another conservative talk-show host, William Bennett, said on CNN that Limbaugh’s statement wasn’t a good idea.

“The locution – `I want him to fail’ – is not what you say the first week the man’s been inaugurated,” he said.

He noted that former President Bill Clinton used to talk about Limbaugh all the time. “It never helped Bill Clinton,” Bennett said. “It certainly helped Rush.”

It seemed clear that Limbaugh knew exactly what kind of impact he would make when he first said he wanted Obama to fail.

“I would be honored if the drive-by media headlined me all day long: `Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails,”‘ he said on the air. “Somebody’s gotta say it.”

Limbaugh, who just marked his 20th year in syndication and signed a contract last year reportedly paying him $38 million a year through 2016, has outraced his competitors to be the voice of opposition.

It could be a valuable role, or it could misread the national mood. He had mixed results last year; launching “Operation Chaos” to urge listeners to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton in Democratic primaries to hurt Obama. He virulently opposed John McCain in the Republican nomination race, forging an uneasy peace when GOP voters didn’t listen.
 
Limbaugh said the “I hope he fails” statement came after an explanation of his opposition to liberal politics.
 
“I want the country to succeed and the stated policies of the administration will not achieve that objective,” he said. “I support the president but I opposed his policies, just as the left claimed to support the troops but opposed their mission of victory. I thus am confident that all conservatives want the country to succeed.”

The 170 members of the House and Senate took the oath of office shortly after the gavels fell at noon at the Legislative Building.

This year’s portion of the session is expected to be dominated by the state budget. New Gov. Beverly Perdue already ordered state agencies to cut up to 7 percent of their budget to close what could be a $2 billion budget shortfall this week. Lawmakers could have to close a $3 billion gap between revenues and expenses when they assemble their own spending plan for the fiscal year starting July

1. “We face great challenges,” House Speaker Joe Hackney, re-elected to a second term to the chamber’s top post, told colleagues in his acceptance speech. “This is our time to do something worthy to be remembered.”

Lawmakers are averse to raising sales or income taxes like they did during the 1991 and 2001 budget crises. But the breadth and depth of the recession across the nation has placed even seasoned legislative leaders into uncharted waters.

“It’s a daunting task, but we have a lot of experienced legislators in our caucus,” said Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, sworn in to a 10th term Wednesday and a recent House Finance Committee co-chairman. “We certainly are looking to avoid the kinds of major taxes that we needed to raise in 2001.”

Democrats are still in charge of both chambers – Republicans had a net gain of one seat in the November election. Hackney was re-elected on a party-line vote over House Minority Leader Paul Stam.

Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, also was elected to a record ninth term as Senate leader. Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, also was nominated for Basnight’s job but interrupted the roll-call vote and asked that Basnight be elected by acclamation.

Former Sen. Walter Dalton succeeded Perdue as lieutenant governor and presided over Senate debate. North Carolina is in relatively better shape than surrounding states when it comes to its fiscal picture. The state has nearly $800 million in its rainy day reserve fund. And a federal stimulus package could help bridge the gap between spending cuts and new taxes or fees.

Basnight said “this session will focus on jobs, jobs and jobs” at a time when revenues were dwindling.

“We have to be careful, we have to be steady, and we have to have no errors,” Basnight said. “I would encourage you not to find your way out of this difficulty with cuts alone.”

Republicans have argued recently that the state could be better off if Democrats hadn’t increased spending by nearly 10 percent in 2006 and 2007.

“I think we need all 50 people in (the Senate) to come up with a solution,” said Sen. Eddie Goodall, R-Union. “It won’t be a time to go back and say, ‘I told you so.”‘

The day was largely ceremonial, as fidgety children and grandchildren sat in chairs of new legislators on the House and Senate floor and lawmakers’ offices were filled with party platters to munch on during the day.

Former lawmakers shook hands with old friends, while first-termers got used to their new surroundings.

PolitiFact, a project of the St. Petersburg Times, monitors politicians’ statements and explains whether they are true or not.

The site is keeping track of President Barack Obama’s promises made while campaigning.

Check it out.

WASHINGTON — At the threshold of the world stage as America’s next top diplomat, Hillary Rodham Clinton is vowing to renew U.S. leadership through a “smart power” mix of diplomacy and defense.
     
In remarks prepared for delivery at her Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be secretary of state also promised to push for more U.S. partnerships around the globe. Read the full story

Take a relatively unknown man. Younger than all of his opponents. Black. With a bad-sounding name. Consider his first opponent: the best-known woman in America, connected to one of the most successful politicians in history. Then consider his second opponent: a well-known war hero with a long, distinguished record as a U.S. senator.

WASHINGTON – In the waning days of the campaign, one presidential candidate promised to “bring America together” to tackle tough problems.

He vowed to fix the broken politics of Washington and “inspire and unite” the country. He warned that his opponent is “out of touch with our time and out of step with the American people.”

Sounds familiar, but that wasn’t Barack Obama or John McCain this week. It was George W. Bush in late October 2000.

Yes, we have been here before, these last, hopeful days before the election when what the candidates promise seems possible, even plausible. Maybe this time…

Surely, the 2008 election will turn out better than the 2000 debacle. But even if we get a winner Tuesday, brace yourself. Reality soon will set in.

If the polls are wrong and McCain pulls off an upset, many Obama voters and Democrats in Congress will be sorely disappointed. Even if Obama wins, as polls suggest, he won’t be able to cook up and deliver change in a box in 20 minutes.

The next president doesn’t get a clean slate and a budget surplus. He’ll inherit bloated debt exacerbated by a $700 billion bailout, wars in two places and an economy likely in recession. The rough and tumble of the campaign may look like a cakewalk compared with the thorny challenges ahead.

At the same time, the president will need to satisfy the people’s pent-up demand for change that he and his opponent stoked during the long campaign. Both candidates blithely promise tax cuts, for example, and Americans have been lulled into thinking there’s no pain with the gain. Calling for sacrifice is hardly a way to win votes, so the candidates have been vague about where they’ll cut the budget to make up lost revenue.

McCain has said he’ll eliminate congressional pet spending projects and freeze domestic spending, but not defense. He has also called for major increases in spending for education, health care and other worthy causes. Obama said in his infomercial that he pays for his spending, but analysts say that’s a stretch.

Obama also says he’ll go line by line through the budget looking for wasteful programs, which sounds like a good idea. Every president targets fraud, waste and abuse in federal programs. But as Ronald Reagan observed, “The closest thing to immortality on this earth is a federal government program.”

Besides, despite the rhetoric of the campaign trail, a president can do only so much, acting alone. He has to work with Congress, and even a friendly Congress may not accede to his every wish. The next president also inherits Washington’s surly mood, which poisons compromise, a necessary ingredient in the legislative process.

Eight years ago, Bush said, “Washington is obsessed with scoring points, not solving our problems. There is so much anger, so much division, so much important work left undone.” That was his way of saying he’d deal with Social Security and other tough issues. “I will act,” he declared. “I will lead.”

While Bush can claim success in passing No Child Left Behind, the uniter became a divider. The next president faces a capital polarized by anger and partisanship at a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs and homes. Voters expect results on health care, immigration, climate change and energy security.

We also know from 9/11 that unexpected events can alter everything. As Joe Biden famously warned, the world is likely to test the next president, whoever it is.

Bill Clinton, campaigning with Obama Wednesday, said a presidential campaign is “the greatest job interview in the world.” On Tuesday, voters will hire their next chief executive.

McCain has been touting his experience and questioning Obama’s readiness.

Asked how Obama can step in when so many things are going wrong, Clinton told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” that Obama has “good advisers … a fine mind … a good grasp” of what needs to be done.

Obama or McCain will also need to level with people and explain that the change they’ve been promised so heartily and for so long won’t happen overnight. We can only hope it happens in the next four or eight years.

In public, some topics should be off-limits. Sex, for example. Or religion. Or the 2000 NFC Championship game unless you are willing to concede Bert Emanuel caught that ball.

Another is politics, especially in a presidential election year. And even more especially in an election year like this election year. People are testy.

“Political discourse has changed over the years until now it is more about emotional connections with candidates than it is about the actual positions of candidates,” said Elizabeth Bird, a professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida. “And so when you attack a candidate, it is like you are attacking the person.”

In private you can say what you please, but the office is different. In her new book, “The Power of Positive Confrontation,” etiquette expert Barbara Pachter warns political conversations “can easily escalate into arguments. … You may say something that insults your co-worker.”

Bruce Weinstein, who writes “The Ethics Guy” column for Business Week, noted that political talk leads to expressing differing opinions, and that’s bad news if that dissenting opinion comes from your boss.

Really, the only “do” when it comes to talking politics in the office is “do shut up.” Most people who bring up politics are looking for validation or argument. But if you get pulled into a political conversation, here are some “don’ts” based on suggestions from Bird, Pachter, Weinstein and our own experiences.

• Don’t ask co-workers who they plan to vote for. You might as well ask how much money they make.
• Don’t mock the way someone else is going to vote. As Bird notes, this is like mocking the person.
• Don’t say anything negative about candidates unless you spread it evenly, such as saying, “both candidates are disappointing.”
• Don’t say anything positive, either, unless you spread it evenly and keep it benign: “They both wore great ties at the debate.”
• Don’t be afraid to simply say: “You know what? I’m not comfortable talking about this at work.” Then walk away. Quickly.

KANNAPOLIS – With a political career that spans back to the White House in 1969, Sen. Elizabeth Dole has no plans on slowing what she considers a personal mission.

“I’m never going to retire unless health requires me to, because I need a missions feel,” said Dole, 72, now in her second term in the United States Senate and being challenged by state Sen. Kay Hagan in her re-election bid.

“As I’m looking at my opponent right now, where’s the pulse? Where’s the moral compass?” Dole said.
Dole, who met with the Independent Tribune’s editorial board Tuesday, said her decades of Washington D.C. experience should be the election’s deciding factor when facing issues like the recent financial bailout, children’s health insurance legislation, and the state’s highway infrastructure needs.

“You can’t just be blowing in the wind,” said Dole, who was reared in Salisbury. “There’s no time for a learning curve.”

Dole, a former secretary of labor and two-time president of the American Red Cross, opposed the bail-out legislation passed by the Senate this month.

“I think there are other ways to do this,” said Dole, adding that she and four other senators introduced legislature in 2003 that would have regulated mortgage lenders like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “It would have stopped some of the abuses that were occurring.”

Dole said she had positive hopes for President Bush’s $250 billion proposal to buy shares in leading U.S. banks.

“I’m hopeful this will produce results in terms of freeing up credit,” Dole said.

She said she is at work on a “comprehensive energy” plan that would put $17 billion toward the production of alternative sources of energy; new U.S. oil drilling to free the country from foreign oil dependency; and geo heating methods in the North Carolina mountains for oil production.

“Do it all,” Dole said. “And do it now for goodness sakes.”

Looking back at her illustrious career, Dole said her work under President Ronald Reagan as secretary of transportation, from 1983 to 1987, is something of which she is especially proud.

She said transportation legislation passed in 1984 that set the drinking age limit at 21, pushed state safety belt laws, and called for auto manufacturers to install airbags in vehicles helped saved thousands upon thousands of lives.