As national Democratic officials continue to cast about for a candidate to unite behind in North Carolina's Senate contest, the campaign of Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D) -- who is already in the race -- released an analysis of recent polling data on Thursday that attempts to make the case for why she should be the establishment choice in the race against Sen. Richard Burr (R).

The memo by Marshall's polling firm, Lake Research Partners, draws on two recent polls to come to the conclusion that "Senator Burr is vulnerable. Voters have a net-unfavorable impression of him and a strong plurality is ready to vote for someone else. Secretary Marshall is well-liked and a strong competitor against Burr."

The memo may be an overt attempt to catch the eye of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, who is often viewed as a king maker in Senate primaries.

The memo comes just days after the DSCC's top prospect in the race, Rep. Bob Etheridge (N.C.), decided to skip the Senate race and instead run for re-election in 2010. In the wake of that announcement Democratic sources indicated that the DSCC would try to get former state Sen. Cal Cunningham to reconsider his recent decision to pass on the Senate contest.

Cunningham, who is popular among progressives in the Tar Heel State, had been quietly putting together a campaign organization in recent months with the help of the DSCC.

North Carolina Rep. Bob Etheridge has decided to pass, for a second time, on the opportunity to take on Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr.

"Ultimately, I believe that I can best help the people of North Carolina during this economic downturn by remaining in the House of Representatives and continuing to serve as North Carolina's only member of the House Ways and Means Committee," Etheridge said in a written statement.

The congressman's decision to seek re-election to his House seat is the latest, and maybe the biggest, recruiting set back for Democrats in a state that party officials had hoped would be a top pick-up opportunity next year.

Three Democratic candidates -- North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Durham attorney Kenneth Lewis and businessman Frank Deaton II have filed to run against Burr, but it's no secret that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was aggressively recruiting Etheridge.

Scratch one North Carolina Democrat from the list of possible challengers to incumbent Sen. Richard M. Burr in 2010.

Cal Cunningham, a former state senator, informed supporters Monday night that he will pass on the race. Cunningham had been generating interest among Democratic Party leaders as a possible recruit should Rep. Bob Etheridge decline to run.

If Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley raises enough money to be financially competitive with her Democratic rivals, she will win the Senate special election, EMILY's List President Ellen R. Malcolm predicted Wednesday.

Malcolm, whose group formally endorsed Coakley at a luncheon in Boston, said Coakley's challenge is to compete with the "kind of money" that 8th District Rep. Michael E. Capuano and Bain Capital Managing Director Stephen Pagliuca have at their disposal. Pagliuca is prepared to self-fund his campaign and Capuano had more than $1 million stockpiled in his congressional campaign committee before the Senate election even got under way.

Capuano announced Wednesday evening that he raised more than $300,000 since launching his candidacy Sept. 18 and has $1.1 million cash-on-hand. Robert Farmer, national finance chair for Democratic Sen. John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, has signed on as national finance chair for Capuano's Senate run.

Elaine Marshall, North Carolina's secretary of state, announced Wednesday that she has taken the first official step to launching a bid against Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr -- giving the Democrats the top-tier challenger they have sought for one of their targeted 2010 Senate takeover bids.

Marshall filed paperwork with state officials establishing her intention to run. And Marshall campaign adviser Thomas Mills said the response in the 24 hours since has been "bigger than we thought."

"We just about couldn't handle what came in yesterday," Mills said of the donations, phone calls and e-mails pouring in to Marshall's nascent campaign. Democrats, he said, "want to have somebody to get behind against Burr."

If the zingers Democrat Cal Cunnigham was directing at freshman Sen. Richard M. Burr last week are any indication, the former state senator is getting ready to take on the Republican incumbent in 2010.

In a videotaped speech to a Democratic gathering in Charlotte now making the Internet rounds, Cunningham hit Burr early and often. "In 15 years on Capitol Hill you can't name one thing that Richard Burr has done to make your life better, and I can't either," he declared, referencing Burr's time as a senator and a congressman.

Cunningham, an Iraq War vet, noted, "During the same period of time that Richard Burr was missing more than half of his Veterans Affairs Committee hearings, I was twice called to active duty for a war that he voted to authorize with no plan to keep the peace."

There's a bumper crop of House members who are seeking other political offices in 2010 in lieu of running for re-election.

Seventeen House members are pursuing other offices, according to a CQ Politics count that has been updated to reflect the Senate candidacy announcement last week by Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La.

Eight House members are running for the Senate, eight are seeking governorships and Rep. Adam H. Putnam, R-Fla., is running for state agriculture commissioner.

The possibility that North Carolina Rep. Bob Etheridge will challenge Sen. Richard M. Burr in 2010 is still a matter of speculation. But if he does run, his strong criticism of Burr's stance on health care may be remembered as the opening salvo.

On a conference call Tuesday hosted by the Democratic National Committee, Etheridge went after Burr's health care proposal, the Patient's Choice Act, that the freshman Republican is pushing in concert with Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn as an alternative to the Democrats' health care overhaul legislation. Burr touted his bill at a private forum earlier Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. Also in attendance were Arizona Sen. John McCain and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Etheridge said Burr's proposal represented the "same old ideas they've run out before that never gained traction."

One North Carolina Democrat is reconsidering a Senate bid and another is looking at the race for the first time, giving the party some more options as it seeks to take out Republican incumbent Richard M. Burr in 2010.

Seven-term Rep. Bob Etheridge told the Raleigh News and Observer Wednesday that he is again mulling a challenge to Burr, after telling national Democrats to count him out earlier this year. Etheridge said has met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and planned to make a decision by September.

Etheridge is a member of the centrist New Democrat Coalition, and his moderate profile in the House would help in the traditionally right-leaning state. But he has a coveted post on the House Ways and Means Committee and admitted to the News and Observer that having to give that up for a Senate run is a definite deterrent.

North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall is "pretty seriously leaning towards" running against Republican Sen. Richard M. Burr in 2010, campaign strategist Thomas Mills tell CQ Politics.

"She's gotten very strong feedback both in state and in Washington," said Mills.

If you paid attention to President Obama's health care forum in Raleigh, N.C. on Wednesday, you would have noticed her there, as well.

As the number of Democratic prospects continue to dwindle, Marshall is looking like a lead contender to take on Burr, whose shaky standing at home has Democratic party leaders drooling.

Former state Sen. Cal Cunningham is taking a serious look at the North Carolina Senate race, but he remains mum on his time line for making a decision.

Cunningham told CQ Politics Friday only that he will make "a timely decision," about whether he will challenge first-term Republican Sen. Richard Burr, reiterating a statement he sent around earlier this week to supporters. The letter, posted on the "Cal Cunningham for U.S. Senate 2010!" Facebook page, said he's been meeting with a range of people to talk about a potential bid, "from folks going about their daily lives, to interested individuals and party groups, the best state and national consultants, current and former office holders and many close friends," and plans to continue holding such conversations.

Cunningham, an attorney who served as senior trial counsel and military prosecutor in Iraq, wrote that before he makes a decision, he wants "to make sure I can look you in the eye, show you a path for victory and tell you where I stand on the issues that really matter in the lives of our citizens."

In a sign of Republican concern over Sen. Richard Burr's re-election chances, Burr's friend and Senate colleague, John McCain, is now running Google ads pumping the North Carolina freshman.

As first spotted by the Charlotte News and Observer, a Google search of "Richard Burr" brings up a sponsored link from McCain's Country First political action committee -- "Richard Burr NC Senator," it reads, followed by "Join John McCain's Country First to Support Candidates like Burr!"

The link leads to the PAC's Supported Candidates page.

Richard Burr (Getty)

But the first-term Republican, who is seen as vulnerable to a challenge in his 2010 re-election contest, had less to say on Thursday about speculation over which Democrat will seek to take him on next year.

"We're on track with what we have planned to raise, and structurally have put the campaign together," said Burr, who reported $1.6 million in cash on hand in his campaign account as of the end of March.

He acknowledged that he has been targeted for defeat by Democratic strategists, saying, "I'm sure with the bounty that the Democratic Senatorial [Campaign] Committee has on my head, I won't go unopposed."