NOW IT'S THE STATE GOP's TURN ... to struggle publicly over power.

Ferrell Blount, who up until Election Day a couple of weeks ago was state Republican Party chair, resigned abruptly November 7th before all the votes had been cast and counted, and he ended up looking like the ship's captain who abandoned the boat at the first sign of a leak.

The struggle to replace him is getting interesting. Linda Daves of Charlotte, who has been vice chair of the state party through four chairmanships (i.e., a loyal party hack), is now acting chair in Blount's absence, and she says she intends to seek her own two-year term when the party has its state convention next spring. In the meantime, she's called a meeting of the state executive committee for this Saturday to formally appoint someone to complete Blount's unexpired term. Everyone seems to think it's going to be Linda Daves, at least the N&O suggests she's the front-runner.

Enter senators Liddy Dole and Richard Burr, who tried (but failed) to postpone the meeting and vote on Saturday, because evidently they have no faith that a party apparatchik like Linda Daves is the one to lead the children to the Promised Land. The senators are apparently pushing for Bob Ingram of Durham, the former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline. (Apparently, he can get good drugs cheap.)

Main problem with Bob Ingram? He's been playing the Big Pharma game of buying politicians in both parties, so his contributions over the years will make for a fun parlor game this winter.