Tuesday, November 04, 2008

It’s Election Day!

Today is Election Day — the culmination of an extraordinary year in North Carolina politics.

One year ago, the top races in North Carolina looked very different. At that point, the economic crisis hadn’t yet occurred; the big issues were the war in Iraq and illegal immigration. The state still figured to be a reliable red state for the Republican presidential nominee. The governor’s race seemed like it was Bev Perdue’s to lose — Pat McCrory hadn’t even announced his candidacy yet. And the Democratic Party was struggling to figure out who would mount a fight against Elizabeth Dole.

How things have changed.

The three biggest races went down to the wire in North Carolina, all of them too close to call. Tonight, we find out Barack Obama’s unprecedented efforts here have been enough to turn the state blue — and if his coattails will extend down the ballot.

Click here for five things to look for tonight as election results unfold. And whatever your party and whichever your candidate, if you haven’t already, go vote!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

North Carolina’s Butterfly Ballot?

Will North Carolina produce this year’s version of the “butterfly ballot”?

Some voting advocates – and some Barack Obama supporters – worry that it could.

The problem stems from the state’s peculiar law that forces voters who choose a straight-ticket ballot to cast a separate vote in the presidential race. So if you want to vote for all Democrats, you have to mark the ballot twice: once for Obama, and then again for the straight Democratic ticket. Advocates say that’s just as confusing as the infamous “butterfly ballot” in Florida in 2000 that caused some Al Gore supporters to mistakenly vote for Pat Buchanan.

A New York Times editorial on Monday raised the issue and said that “North Carolina may have the country’s worst” ballot. And with the presidential race so close in North Carolina this year, if a large number of people mistakenly fail to cast votes for president, it feasibly could affect the outcome of the race.

The Obama campaign is particularly concerned, because it is counting on motivating many young people and other new voters, who may be unfamiliar with the ballot system. Obama himself, at his rally today in Raleigh, reminded voters that a vote for a straight Democratic ticket doesn’t count for president.

“You have to vote in two steps — one for president, and one for the rest of the ticket,” he told the crowd.

Attempting to clarify the issue, state election officials directed local election workers to distribute fliers with instructions about the straight-ticket procedure (the ballot itself also contains instructions). But Forsyth County has decided to ignore the directive, arguing that it’s inappropriate to begin distributing additional information midway through early voting.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Barack Obama, Kindergarten Communist

Barack Obama’s behavior as a kindergartener sure has gotten a lot of attention in this presidential race.

Last December, during the early primary season, Hillary Clinton attacked Obama for having written an essay in kindergarten titled “I Want to Become President.”

But was the ambitious 5-year-old Obama also a closet communist?

That was the punchline of a joke made by Obama himself today as he spoke before a teeming crowd of supporters in downtown Raleigh.

Responding to recent attacks by John McCain labeling him a socialist, Obama ad-libbed a portion of his speech:

“I don’t know what’s next,” he said. “By end of the week, he’ll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten. I shared my peanut butter and jelly sandwich!”

Obama and the crowd laughed. But McCain’s campaign shot back, releasing a statement soon after Obama’s speech.

“No one cares what Barack Obama does with his toys,” the statement read, “but Americans do care that he wants to raise taxes, add a trillion dollars in new spending and redistribute your hard-earned paycheck as he sees fit.”

Obama Trying to Close the Deal in N.C.

RALEIGH — Barack Obama made his closing argument to North Carolinians today, telling thousands of supporters that “at this defining moment in history, you can give this country the change we need.”

At an outdoor rally in downtown Raleigh, Obama spoke before a crowd estimated at 25,000 people. It was his seventh visit to North Carolina since the primary.

Six days before Election Day, Obama recalled the winter day in Chicago, nearly two years ago, when he announced his run for president.

“We knew how steep our climb would be. But I also knew this: I knew that the size of our challenges had outgrown the smallness of our politics,” he said.

Obama also sharpened his response to McCain’s recent attacks, which have tried to characterize Obama as someone who wants to redistribute wealth and who supports policies akin to socialism. McCain called Obama a “redistributionist-in-chief” at a rally in Fayetteville on Tuesday.

Obama shot back that, when it comes to the economy, McCain “hasn’t been a maverick, he’s been a sidekick” to President Bush.

“Here in North Carolina, the jobs losses have been severe. Plants keep on closing, jobs being shipped overseas,” Obama said. “At a moment like this, the last thing we can afford is four more years of the tired, old theory that says we should give more and more money to millionaires and billionaires and big corporations, and hope that prosperity trickles down to everybody else.”

McCain Goes After Obama in Fayetteville

FAYETTEVILLE — John McCain, hoping to mount a comeback by portraying Barack Obama as a big spender who wants to “redistribute wealth,” continued his attacks on Obama’s economic plan at a rally here on Tuesday.

It was McCain’s third visit to North Carolina in the past month.

“Sen. Obama is running to be redistributionist-in-chief. I’m running to be commander-in-chief,” McCain said. “Sen. Obama is running to spread the wealth. I’m running to create more wealth. Sen. Obama is running to punish the successful. I’m running to make everyone successful.”

McCain spoke before thousands of fans at Fayetteville’s Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville. It was a big crowd that nearly filled the arena, which has a capacity of 10,000 people.

But significantly, it was the same location where Obama held a rally just eight days before. At that rally, the coliseum was packed, and thousands more supporters waited outside, unable to get in.

Earlier in the day, McCain and Sarah Palin called for the resignation of Ted Stevens, the Republican senator from Alaska who was convicted Monday of violating federal ethics laws. McCain did not mention Stevens at the Fayetteville rally. But he did try to distance himself from another unpopular Republican: President Bush. Obama has frequently tried to tie McCain to Bush’s economic policies.

“This is the fundamental difference between Sen. Obama and me,” McCain said. “We both disagree with President Bush on economic policy. The difference is that he thinks taxes have been too low, and I think spending has been too high.”

Monday, October 27, 2008

The Final Push for North Carolina

In the final full week of the 2008 presidential campaign, North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes are still very much up for grabs, and the campaigns are fighting hard for them. Both presidential candidates, and both of their running mates, are visiting North Carolina this week.

Sarah Palin held a rally in Asheville yesterday that could be described as a mix of singing and zinging.

Today, Joe Biden is going green: he has rallies first in Greenville and then in Greensboro. No word yet on whether he’ll talk about the environment.

On Tuesday, John McCain will be in Fayetteville. And on Wednesday, Barack Obama will return to North Carolina at a location that has not yet been announced.

Even the Libertarian candidate for president, Bob Barr, is visiting North Carolina. On Wednesday evening, he will be speaking at UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University.

In Print: Assessing the Race for U.S. Senate

From today’s print edition: A breakdown of the Senate contest, in which Kay Hagan has a razor-thin lead over Elizabeth Dole. The race, in many ways, has played out as a referendum on Dole – the incumbent who was once considered the heir to Jesse Helms but who is now trying to distance herself from the Republican Party. Hagan has run a cautious campaign, staking out middle-ground positions that leave her plenty of wiggle room. Here’s an excerpt:

Dole, a fierce fundraiser with outstanding name recognition, was once considered almost unbeatable. Six years ago, she was elected easily to the seat that Jesse Helms vacated after 30 years. Many conservatives dubbed her Helms’ natural successor.

But she now finds herself in the re-election fight of her life against Hagan, a state legislator who until recently was virtually unknown in most parts of North Carolina. The race, in many ways, has played out as a referendum on Dole.

North Carolina’s other senator, Richard Burr of Winston-Salem, acknowledged how tough things have gotten for Republican incumbents. Burr is a Republican.

“To believe that she’s in a head-to-head race right now, in the margin of error, is actually a relief,” said Burr, who will be up for re-election in 2010.

The full story is here.

In Print: Assessing the Race for Governor

From Sunday’s print edition: An analysis of the tight race between Bev Perdue and Pat McCrory, a pair of campaign veterans who have never lost an election. It’s the closest gubernatorial race in the country this year. Here’s an excerpt from the story:

[I]t’s hard to imagine two candidates for governor who could be more different.

On the campaign trail, McCrory’s most striking characteristic is his social energy. He is gregarious and eager to please, practically leaving a trail of charisma as he works the room.

Perdue is a natural politician, too. But what’s most striking about her is not affability, but empathy. Especially in these economic times, she wants her audiences to believe that she feels their pain.

While McCrory backslaps, Perdue hugs. And while McCrory speaks in intense, declarative sentences, Perdue tends to be more oblique, using folksy anecdotes or lofty generalizations to make her points.

Their contrasting styles seem to originate in their very different backgrounds.

The full story can be found here.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

North Carolina, Meet Joe

CONCORD — “Joe the Plumber” has plunged into the national spotlight — and now the North Carolina spotlight — as John McCain hopes to use the plumber’s story to energize his campaign.

Joe Wurzelbacher gained attention this week after he met Barack Obama during one of Obama’s campaign appearances. Wurzelbacher questioned and criticized Obama’s tax plan, saying that it would cause his income taxes to go up if he succeeds in buying his own plumbing business.

McCain repeatedly mentioned Wurzelbacher during a debate with Obama on Wednesday, and he continued to hit on the plumber rhetoric today in Concord, as he invoked Wurzelbacher to try to differentiate the two candidates’ tax plans.

“The real winner this week was Joe the Plumber!” McCain proclaimed to thousands of cheering supporters at a rally here. “Joe won because he’s the only person who can get a real answer out of Sen. Obama. Congratulations Joe, that’s an impressive achievement.”

McCain tried to portray Obama’s tax plan as a socialist-style redistribution of wealth.

It was McCain’s second appearance in North Carolina in less than a week. He acknowledged that he needs a comeback and said that North Carolina will be critical.

“I’m gonna give you some hard facts,” he said. “We have to win the state of North Carolina, and I’m counting on you to do it.”

More on Joe the Plumber, and the two candidates’ tax plans, in tomorrow’s Winston-Salem Journal.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Early Voting Starts Today

Today is the first day of early voting for the Nov. 4 election. And if you haven’t registered to vote, it’s not too late — you can register and immediately cast your ballot at any early-voting site.

Early voting runs from today until the last Saturday (Nov. 1) before Election Day.

Hours vary by location, and some early-voting locations will not open until next week or the following week. This handy list from the N.C. State Board of Elections shows every early-voting site in the state, and the days and hours when each site is open.

In Forsyth County, people can vote today and tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the board of elections at 201 N. Chestnut St., in the Forsyth County Government Center. Next week, three other early-voting sites will open in Forsyth County, and then, in the final week of early voting, 10 additional sites will open. It’s a record number of early-voting sites for the county in a year in which just about everyone is predicting very high turnout.

Rob Coffman, the county’s elections director, said that if people wait until the last few days of early voting, they’ll likely have to wait in line, the Journal‘s Wes Young reports. And that’s to say nothing of the potential crowds on Election Day itself.