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Mark's story today points out differences between Senate candidates Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan on organized labor issues.

Surprising differences.

At least to me. My jaw almost dropped during our interview with Hagan to hear her express support for federal legislation that would override North Carolina law that prohibits collective bargaining by public employees.

I fully expected Hagan, a state senator, to say this is an issue that should be left to the state. Why should Washington dictate rules pertaining to state and local government employees in North Carolina? Besides, in 10 years in the Senate, she's initiated no action to change the collective bargaining prohibition.

On the merits of the issue, I would worry about problems for state and local governments if they have to negotiate contracts with unions representing various groups of public employees -- a budgeting nightmare and bound to raise costs for taxpayers.

On another issue -- a measure pending in Congress that would make card-check elections the only recognized means of determining worker support for a union -- Dole says firmly no but Hagan says she's undecided but favorably inclined.

This would bar use of secret-ballot elections, a move that liberal icon George McGovern faulted in a Wall Street Journal op-ed as "a disturbing and undemocratic overreach."

Clearly, subjecting employees to card-check, where they have to openly commit or refuse to support the union, raises the potential for intimidation or worse. As Americans, we'd never accept anything but secret ballot elections when choosing our leaders or even voting on a bond referendum. When unions so strongly want to do away with secret ballot elections, it's not hard to figure their motives are, as McGovern said, undemocratic. But it's a top-priority issue for them as they desperately want to gain an advantage to reverse their decades-long decline. That's one reasons they're pouring millions and millions of dollars into Democratic campaigns.

Hagan has been a pro-business Democrat in the state Senate, which itself is generally favorable to business interests. Her record indicates she could be an effective, energetic U.S. senator for North Carolina. I just hope she won't feel she has to conform her views to the more liberal national Democratic agenda if she's elected.

If stormy weather keeps you in today, you might want to read up on the candidates for statewide judicial offices on their Web sites. Here they are:

N.C. Supreme Court

Bob Edmunds (incumbent) vs. Suzanne Reynolds

N.C. Court of Appeals

John Arrowood (incumbent) vs. Robert N. Hunter Jr.

Doug McCullough (incumbent) vs. Cheri Beasley

Linda Stephens (incumbent) vs. Dan Barrett

Sam J. Ervin IV vs. Kristin Ruth

Jim Wynn (incumbent) vs. Jewel Ann Farlow

These are important races and deserve your attention.

Nation's jobless rate climbs ... and 27,000 Boeing machinists will strike at midnight tonight.

The Post-Intelligencer reports: "In addition to an 11 percent wage increase over three years, Machinists would have received a $2,500 bonus if a majority had approved the contact. They also would have received a lump sum of either $2,500 or 6 percent of their annual wage, with overtime. On average, that would have amounted to $3,900, according to Boeing.

"The union was seeking a wage raise of about 13 percent.

"The average annual salary of a Machinist is about $54,000 a year, without overtime, but about 4,000 make less than $30,000 a year, according to the union."

Darn shame Boeing can't hire some laid-off textile or furniture workers from North Carolina.

I mentioned in my post this morning this is the 12th anniversary of Hurricane Fran pummeling North Carolina.

Specifically, the first place Fran clobbered was Topsail Island.

And that was less than two months after Hurricane Bertha slammed Topsail.

It took years for the barrier island between Wilmington and Jacksonville to recover.

But Topsail has its fighting spirit back. People out there are thumbing their noses at Hanna, the Wilmington Star-News reported about a half-hour ago.

Hey, the weather's fine!

You gotta love the attitude.

Makes me wish I was there.

Thanks goodness the conventions are over and we can focus our attention on ...

... hurricanes.

It was exactly 12 years ago today, by the way, that Hurricane Fran slammed our coast, killing 24 people in North Carolina. Fortunately, Hanna isn't expected to match that.

I did not stay up to hear John McCain's speech last night, which I gather was not a hurricane-strength oration. I'm pleased he pledged to reach across partisan divisions -- which were widened by earlier speakers during the Republican convention. He'll have no choice if he's elected, though, because the Democrats will maintain solid control of Congress. But he'll have to sacrifice the support of his Republican base if he goes too far to accommodate Democrats.

Barack Obama also promises to unite Americans, but he's very unlikely to fulfill that pledge if he's president. His programs will appeal to Democrats, not Republicans. Why would Republicans, and the nearly 50 percent of Americans likely to vote Republican in the presidential race, want to unite behind an agenda they oppose? And, with the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to back his programs, why would Obama modify his agenda for the sake of bringing political opponents on board? It won't happen.

More thoughts about Sarah Palin and the idea that she can't possibly attract any Hillary Clinton supporters to the GOP ticket. Scoffers note that Palin and Clinton take opposite positions on the abortion issue and add it's insulting to suggest women voters will support Palin just because of gender.

The first concern assumes that all Hillary supporters were pro-choice, which I would doubt. Why couldn't some pro-life voters back Hillary for other reasons? There are plenty of pro-life Democrats, but because all the Dem presidential candidates were pro-choice, those voters would have to disregard the abortion issue altogether during the primary campaign. Why couldn't they switch to the Republican ticket for the general election, as many Democrats do in every presidential election?

Secondly, the idea that women voters wouldn't be drawn to Palin on account of gender assumes that women didn't favor Clinton because of gender. There was a significant gender gap between Obama and Clinton in the Dem primaries. That at least suggests that gender was a factor when some women chose their candidate. Let's not say it's impossible for gender to be a factor in November.

Speaking of gender gaps, aren't you glad that hurricanes can be given male names now?

Still, if we wanted to pick names from the four folks on the major party tickets, I'd say Hurricane Sarah sounds most fitting.

Fibber Kay?

That's as bad as the ruby slippers.

A new TV ad by Elizabeth Dole brands opponent Kay Hagan a fibber, supposedly for distorting her Senate record.

They can disagree on the issues, but coming up with a term like that is demeaning.

True, Hagan's side started the negative attacks. And they began early on mocking Dole with the silly line of "give her her ruby slippers and send her back to Kansas." As if she was ever from Kansas.

A Dole spokesman said the Fibber Kay expression is a common refrain on the campaign trail. Doubtful. A Charlotte Observer-NewsChannel 36 poll released this week found 73 percent of respondents said they'd never heard of Hagan or had no opinion of her. She should address that by running positive ads about herself. She certainly hasn't been called dishonest during her 10 years in the state legislature.

Dole should go back to the positive formula as well. The sooner voters hear the last about Fibber Kay and ruby slippers, the better.

Sarah Palin laid it out early in her speech tonight when she defined the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull:

Lipstick.

The Republicans have themselves quite a woman here ...

A mother who promises to be an advocate for all of America's parents with special needs children ...

... and a high-heeled attack dog who might tear the pants leg off Joe Biden in a debate.

She had CNN's Wolf Blitzer so intimidated he immediately pronounced her address to the GOP convention a "home run."

She spoke fondly of her family, lauded her military son and nephew and all men and women in our armed forces, described her power-to-the-people style of governing Alaska and took a few shots at knocking the Democratic ticket down to size. Most emotional, though, was her tribute to John McCain's sacrifices in service to country.

Is the POW story overplayed? I don't know, but Palin played it very effectively.

Look, she still has a long way to go to convince a majority of voters she's ready to be president, if necessary. Something in her background still could trip her up, or she may stumble under the weight of a pressure-packed national campaign.

On the other hand, she showed tonight that she's made of firm fiber and isn't afraid of a challenge or a fight.

She also came across as someone Americans probably will like. I expect she'll draw a crowd everywhere she goes, and you couldn't say that about every No. 2 we've seen in presidential campaigns.

She just might help McCain, with or without lipstick.

Wake County's superintendent gets a 4 percent pay hike, raising his base salary to $273,000, The N&O reports..

The 136,000-student school system is the largest in North Carolina.

Del Burns, 55, has been with Wake schools for 32 years, starting in 1976 as an LD Resources teacher. He was the county's Principal of the Year in 1999 at Millbrook High School. In 2006, he was named superintendent.

That kind of homegrown leadership is rare in large school systems these days.

Guilford County is paying its new superintendent, Maurice Green, 41, a base salary of $250,000. The Guilford County system has about 71,000 students.

Ya gotta love Joe Lieberman.

Unless you're a Democrat. Then you might hate him.

You also might be plotting how to get even with him.

Lieberman, a lifelong Democrat and 2000 Al Gore running mate -- seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? -- pitched for John McCain and declared Barack Obama not ready at the Republican convention last night.

Lieberman was re-elected to the Senate as an independent in 2006 after Connecticut Democrats dumped him in their primary. He was too hawkish and chummy with Republicans for their taste. He showed Dems he didn't need them -- in Connecticut, he's bigger than the party.

Last night, he told Republicans that he puts country ahead of party.

That kind of talk probably burned his last bridge with Democrats, with whom he still caucuses in the Senate.

Some of this is personal, too. McCain and Lieberman are great pals. I was convinced McCain would pick old Joe as his running mate and the two would live out the political version of "The Bucket List."

You know, the Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman movie about two old guys with terminal illnesses who decide to have a helluva great time on their way out.

McCain-Lieberman would go down in flames, but they'd have a blast campaigning together.

Now, with McCain hitting the campaign trail with Sarah Palin, Lieberman has to return to the Senate, where he'll be due an unfriendly reception from Democrats.

Well, so what? Republicans and a whole lotta ordinary Americans just gotta love him.