The Independent Weekly’s view on the news
The Barack Obama campaign mobilized thousands of volunteers who helped him win North Carolina, but a new analysis by Democracy North Carolina found that five of the 10 counties with the most intense voter activism favored John McCain.
Of the top 10 counties on the Voter Activism Index, five sided with Obama: Chatham, Wake, Forsyth, Orange and Durham; five favored McCain: Person, Moore, Davie, Transylvania and Nash. Continue reading »
Not a lot of precincts reporting, but enough for MSNBC to give Kentucky to McCain, Vermont to Obama, and Indiana is too close to call.
North Carolina’s a cliff-hanger, obviously. Put the polls together, they say up for grabs between Obama and McCain with a week left.
The Obama event on Wendnesday is billed as an “Early Vote for Change” rally as the campaign seeks to maximize its one-stop registration/voting turnout by the Saturday deadline. It’s on the State Government Mall; 11:15 am “pre-program” start; no tickets required, but they’d like to have your name anyway. The campaign’s invitation is reprinted below. Continue reading »
The New York Times spotlights North Carolina today, in assessing the relative success of John McCain and Barack Obama. McCain spoke to a few thousand supporters in Concord–which voted overwhelmingly for Bush in 2004–on Saturday, while Obama “reached beyond his base” on Sunday in attracting over 10,000 supporters to Fayetteville, a pro-military bastion and home to Fort Bragg. The Times notes that Obama and McCain are neck-and-neck in a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter. In the Gray Lady’s opinion, here’s why:
The turnabout can be traced to an influx of new voters and a change in demographics; a slowing of the state’s economy and the collapse of the nation’s financial system; Mr. Obama’s extensive ground organization, huge financial advantage and amount spent on television (seven to one over Mr. McCain); the state’s large populationof blacks and students; and Mr. McCain’s neglect of the state.
Raleigh’s own Public Policy Polling (PPP) is out with its latest in NC: Obama by 7 over McCain (and Obama over 50%); and in the U.S. Senate race, Hagan over Dole by 7. Earlier, the Perdue campaign was touting a new Research 2000 poll showing Bev leading McCrory by 5 in the governor’s race. Two weeks to go — a long time in politics. But if Obama’s solidly ahead in this supposed red state, McCain could be headed for a McGovern-like landing on Nov. 4.
PPP’s analysis is below. Continue reading »
On a day that the New York Times joins CNN in marking Virginia down as “leaning Democrat,” John McCain has authorized robo-calls in the state that imply Barack Obama does not want to keep you safe. That’s right, Americans–there’s a lot about Obama you don’t know. Worse, he supports the U.S. Supreme Court in its decision to extend habeas corpus rights to detainees at Guantanamo. (In other words, he is a terrorist–who does not want to keep you safe. Also, he is not who you think he is. Did we mention, he is a terrorist?)
“Barack Obama, and his fellow Democrats, aren’t who you think they are,” the robo-caller says. “They say they want to keep you safe, but Barack Obama said the threat we face now from terrorism is nowhere near as dire as it was at the end of the Cold War. And Congressional Democrats now want to give civil rights to terrorists.”
UPDATE: It gets worse. Robo-calls placed to North Carolina homes allege that Obama conspired to prevent doctors from saving babies born during late-term abortions–a claim that was roundly refuted during the third presidential debate. So far, four robo-calls paid for by the McCain campaign have been identified, each containing misleading statements intended to create fear of Obama.
Does anyone remember during the last presidential debate, when John McCain (while he wasn’t roaming lost around the stage) talked about giving people the choice to buy health insurance from any state they wish? To which Barack Obama countered that doing so could encourage some states to deregulate health insurance, creating cheap plans that — when you read the fine print — don’t really offer people the coverage they need?
If Pat McCrory won the governor’s race, it looks like North Carolina would become one of those states. See McCrory’s pledge to “reduce state mandates” as part of his health care plan.
Adam Linker at NC Policy Watch explains here why McCrory’s plan would “lead to more North Carolinians joining the ranks of the underinsured and will sharpen the financial insecurity of middle class families.” Among the cumbersome state requirements of these gold-plated health-care plans: basic care for newborns, and the guarantee that women can stay in the hospital for at least 48 hours after giving birth.
NC Policy Watch’s Adam Searing also recently compared Obama and McCain’s health care plans, and how they would affect North Carolinians in particular.
Online readers were understandably perturbed today when a link to a prominent Charlotte citizen’s endorsement of Barack Obama suddenly stopped working — and took them to another Charlotte citizen’s endorsement of John McCain.
As of 11:15 a.m., the link problem had been fixed, though comments and accompanying art were still mixed up.
On Oct. 6, the Charlotte Observer had published a column by former Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl Jr. in which he said Obama is “whom we need now” to straighten out the country’s financial problems.
But this morning, Oct. 14, the link to McColl’s column led to another by Charlottean Mark Erwin, a former ambassador under President Clinton, titled “Why John McCain would make the best president.”
The Indy called David Enna, site manager for the CharlotteObserver.com, who said the link switch was a technical error. “There was no conspiracy,” Enna said. “It has to do with the slugging of the stories.”
A “slug” is newspaper jargon for a short name given to stories as they move through production. Enna said editorial page editors gave the same slug to both stories, which caused the second story to override the first. He said the problem has happened before. “It’s a really, really dumb thing. I’ve told them over and over not to do it,” he said.
Want a commemorative Obama beer glass? A McCain? At Flying Saucers everywhere, but especially Raleigh, Obama’s selling more suds. [h/t: NewRaleigh.com]
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