In North Carolina's tightest race, some bad news for the GOP. GOP Rep. Charles Taylor -- you remember, the fellow who collected a bunch of money from Jack Abramoff lobbyists then denied it was a fundraiser -- appears to have lost an important supporter: the Asheville Citizen-Times. The paper -- which has backed Taylor in the past -- today threw its support to Dem challenger Heath Shuler, a key endorsement. The paper concluded that Taylor's talent for bringing back pork was outweighed by the need to jettison the GOP majority: "To support Taylor is to endorse two more years of the same ineffectual leadership." CQ Politics rates the contest a toss-up, partly because of Taylor's personal wealth.