? Kay Hagan campaigns with Michelle Obama in Greensboro. The Washington Post spotlights Elizabeth Dole in a piece about GOP congressional candidates who seem buoyed by a Republican base energized during the convention season.

? Beverly Perdue and Pat McCrory debate this morning in Cary on education issues. The forum will be televised. State Auditor Les Merritt says that his office’s probe of the firing of an Ethics Commission staffer, after she reported favorable treatment of a Perdue aide, is being blocked by the commission.