Posted on 09/16/2011 12:58:32 PM PDT by Signalman
When Robert Gibbs, then a Barack Obama campaign aide, went to bed on election night in 2008 he knew his boss had won the presidency. But the first thing he did the next morning was check to see if Obama carried a state that was a major focus of the campaign: North Carolina.
Obama prevailed, winning by fewer than 14,000 votes to become the first Democrat to carry North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Obama's campaign rode several advantages to break through: money, momentum and a compelling message.
Now he is an incumbent president saddled with a struggling economy. Unemployment here is 10.1%, a full point higher than the national average. A new poll showed Obama's approval rating in North Carolina at 43%.
"He won it by 14,000 votes, so any decline in the president's fortunes is going to put North Carolina in jeopardy. His approval ratings are down in the state to the lowest levels in his tenure, and that will make it quite difficult for him to hold onto the state next year," said Andrew Taylor, a political science professor at North Carolina State University.
Obama isn't giving up on North Carolina. If he rebounds here, at the minimum he'll force his Republican opponent to commit resources in a state the GOP has identified as a top target. Republicans see the economy as a major vulnerability for Obama in a state that has lost 142,000 jobs since he took office.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
BO ia wasting his time in NC, and they are insane to have their convention in Charlotte, won’t do them a damned bit of good.
FUBO GTFO! 491 Days until Noon Jan 20, 2013
Chapel Hill is the cancer.
Actually it was the white academia from the UNC and UNCCH. If it wasn’t for Chapel Hill and the surrounding towns with tree huggers for change and hope, he would have lost the state.
There. Fixed it.
I'm looking forward to the riots.
Obama did a great job last time in both hiding his past and getting the media to keep all of his bad points hidden. NC is no different now. I have family in Charlotte and O is going to lose NC hard in 2012. People really have had enough.
I live about and hour west of Charlotte and expect to see this condition (Denver) at the end of their convention.
Poor people of NC......Because of a few thousand lousy misguided voters they will have to endure Obama until the election. I will hate to see the condition of the city of Charlotte after the Dem Convention.
Trust me...we’re dreading it too.
It doesn’t matter if Zer0bama has written North Carolinians off or not. What matters is that North Carolinians have written the Keynan Keynesian off.
And as Martha Stewart would say, “And that’s a good thing.”
If the recent Republican House seat victory in New York is an indictment of Obama, then he’s sinking in north Carolina and all of the other states. The Dem’s can spin this until they turn blue in the face,but the voters voice can’t be spun here at all.
Duke has a better chance of winning the BCS Championship than Obama has of winning North Carolina in 2012.
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