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Gov. Mike Easley pleads guilty in a Wake County courtroom, ending both the state and federal investigations into his campaign finances and other dealings. Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson joins substitute host Mike Davis to discuss Easley's plea deal, the unanswered questions that remain, and Easley attorney Joe Cheshire's tirade against the news media.

Then Rick Martinez, news director of NewsRadio 680 WPTF in Raleigh, the N.C. News Network, and stategovernmentradio.com, joins Davis to talk about N.C. GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer's resignation and plans for 2011 , as well as the election of Rep. Thom Tilllis as the new N.C. House Speaker.

That's followed by a second look at the impact of the midterm election results. Donna Martinez talks to Tom Fetzer and Democratic political insider Gary Pearce about what the results mean and what comes next for Democrats and Republicans.

And finally, we revisit Martinez's recent interview with Democratic pollster Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling about the internal feud between campaign pollsters and public pollsters.