Some recent items of interest:What McCrory really said with veto

• National Journal is reporting that Democratic power brokers are trying to get kay Hagan to run against Richard Burr in 2016. A sample quote:

To many of the state’s top Democratic strategists, Hagan isn’t just the top choice, she’s the only choice. And that presumption has made for an unusual recruiting process. Unlike the relentless courtship of most prospective candidates, party leaders have kept their distance from Hagan for the last six months—acutely aware that last year’s grueling and unsuccessful re-election campaign kicked off what would necessarily be a lengthy cooling-off period.

But as the calendar has turned toward summer, Hagan loyalists and Democratic leaders gradually re-initiated contact and starting the process of convincing her that she is their singular chance against Republican Sen. Richard Burr.

“If she doesn’t run, we don’t have anybody,” warned Brad Crone, a veteran Democratic strategist in the state. It is a fear that is echoed throughout North Carolina.

“There’s a big drop off after Hagan,” said one of the former senator’s donors. “She’s got major-league stuff, and after that, we unfortunately have a bullpen full of double-A arms.”

H/t: SH

• Patrick Gannon of the Insider has a column out titled “What McCrory really said with veto” on the message Gov. Pat McCrory was trying to send to state legislators with his veto of a bill that would allow magistrates to opt out of performing gay marriages. Gannon thinks McCrory is trying to say something like this to the General Assembly:

“I didn’t come to Raleigh to get mired in divisive social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. I know the religious right in the Republican Party won’t like this action, but I want my gubernatorial legacy to be about improving transportation and state buildings and creating jobs. So far, the General Assembly is balking at my idea for bond referendums for those purposes. I know I say it often, but I greatly admired President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who supported the construction of the interstate highway system.

State legislators also haven’t responded to my administration’s very frequent calls for additional tools to help with job recruitment and economic development, such as a historic preservation tax credit and more money for our best job-recruiting program, JDIG. I could name others, but you get the point. I don’t want to lose another automaker like Volvo to South Carolina because the Legislature refuses to pass an economic incentives package that can help us compete with neighboring states.

I didn’t come to Raleigh to get pushed around – or ignored – by the Legislature. I’m fed up with that.

• Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer writes that generational shift could play an important role in next year’s election here in North Carolina:

Of those who are Millennials (those born after 1980) have registered at the same rate for both Democrats and unaffiliated (37 percent each), with a quarter having registered Republican.

The growing lack of party allegiance is becoming much more pronounced as the state’s electorate is experiencing a generational shift.

A year and half away from the November 2016 election, Baby Boomers make up a third of the registered voter pool, with Millennials at 28 percent, Generation Xers at 26 percent and those born before 1945 (the Silent Generation) only 13 percent.

In comparison to Millennials, registered Baby Boomers are 44 percent Democratic, 33 percent Republican, and 22 percent unaffiliated, while those caught in between (Generation Xers) are 39 percent Democratic, 32 percent Republican, and 29 percent unaffiliated.