Maybe someone else has already raised this — if so I apologize for missing it — but how come Walter Dalton doesn’t seem to rate an N&O icon?

In the online version of the “Under the Dome ” section of Raleigh’s News & Observer newspaper, numerous politicians have their own little cartoon likenesses.  Bev Perdue, Richard Burr, Kay Hagan, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney (complete with silver sideburns) have little caricature icons. Even Senate leader Phil Berger has one. Pat McCrory’s mug has appeared scores of times to accompany stories about him.

But for some reason, Lt. Governor Dalton doesn’t seem to have one. Maybe I missed it, but a search of dozens of posts mentioning Dalton failed to turn it up.

Anyway, it’s obviously not huge deal, but it does raise at least a small question about the N&O and the balance of its political coverage. Every time a reader goes to Under the Dome these days, he or she has a good chance of seeing Pat McCrory smiling back in what is at least a semi-flattering mug shot. But not so for his opponent, Walter Dalton– a man who’s been a fairly significant political figure for several years.

What gives, N&O?