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As the 2010 campaign season descends upon us, this column will stray from policy into politics from time to time. And right at the top of the Tar Heel ticket next year will be the race for U.S. Senate.

The incumbent is Richard Burr , a Winston-Salem Republican and former House member who is winding up his first term  in the Senate.

Democrat Kay Hagan  of Greensboro doesn’t face re-election until 2014 , although her victory last year against Republican star Elizabeth Dole  has Democrats jazzed about their chances.

“Senator Burr is one of the very top incumbents we’re going after this cycle,” said Eric Schultz , a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. 

Schultz can tick off what Democrats see as a fairly lengthy list of transgressions by Burr. What they can’t tick off, right now, is an equally lengthy list of candidates lining up to take him on.

Secretary of State Elaine Marshall  is the only elected official who has declared. Durham lawyer Ken Lewis  has also declared. Both are raising money and acting like credible, if not superstar, candidates.

But like Diogenes shining his lantern in the face of his fellow Athenians, the DSCC has continued to wander North Carolina looking for candidates with that special something: name recognition and ability to raise money. Most recently, Rep. Bob Etheridge  turned down the committee on Friday, saying he could better serve his constituents by staying in the House — and keeping his seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee — than running for Senate. Earlier in the year, Attorney General Roy Cooper  also turned down the chance to run against Burr.

Schultz confirmed that even this week the DSCC was busy talking to folks not yet in the race, although he wouldn’t discuss them. Former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker  recently told the News & Observer of Raleigh that he might get into the race. And there’s always the chance that national Democrats could try to convince former state Sen. Cal Cunningham  to change his mind and get back in the race.

Of course, what appears to be the absence of a warm embrace for the candidates who have said they do want to run has delighted Republicans.

“It’s clear that experienced Democrat officials on the ground in North Carolina have a much different view of this race than party officials in Washington,” said an e-mail last week from Colin Reed , a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Although election filing doesn’t begin until early next year, candidates for statewide races generally get an early jump, mainly to tackle the fundraising needed to fuel the campaign.

When Hagan reversed an earlier decision and decided to run for U.S. Senate in 2007, she was deemed to have started late by throwing her hat in the ring just before Halloween that year. Any candidate looking to get on board now will be competing for attention with the Thanksgiving Day circulars and Black Friday ads.

Burr on terrorism trials

Speaking of Burr, the Republican did not approve of President Barack Obama’s  decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed  and four alleged co-conspirators to New York for trial in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“These are some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world,” Burr said in a written statement. “I find it shocking that the administration would choose to bring the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11 attacks to our shores.   

“Military commissions were designed in a bipartisan effort specifically to provide terrorists a fair trial in a secure facility — without bringing them to our neighborhoods — and without undermining national security with exposure of sensitive information in civilian courts. Release of that information, including the possible disclosure of the sources and methods used to gather intelligence, puts American lives — civilian and military — at risk.”

House votes

The House did not take any recorded votes last week.

Senate votes

The Senate held two recorded votes last week, both to confirm judicial appointments made by Obama.

Of the two, the closest to home for Tar Heels was a 72-16 vote to confirm Andre Davis of Maryland to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. That is the same appellate court to which two North Carolina nominations are pending.

Hagan voted yes. Burr was not recorded as voting.
 

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com