Buried deep within the story buried deep within the N&O today on early voting is the most important number in this election: 28 percent. That’s the African-American percentage of the turnout so far. That’s eight points above what most polls assume black turnout will be. That’s eight more points for Obama – and, potentially, the…
Read MoreNow it can be told. People have noticed that Governor Emeritus Jim Hunt seems to be everywhere this campaign: speaking at James Taylor’s concert, raising money for Kay Hagan, sending emails for Bev Perdue, campaigning across the state and – in his spare time – organizing Wilson County for Obama. Here is why: This election…
Read MoreWith Obama apparently cruising into the White House, the question everybody asks is who will win North Carolina – for President, Senator and Governor. To be blunt, I don’t know. The only people who really know are the people inside a campaign watching internal polls. They never tell the truth, unless they have an overwhelming…
Read MoreColin Powell – pausing in his devastating dismissal of John McCain – hailed Barack Obama as a “transformational figure.” Obama has damned sure transformed campaign fundraising. Take a moment to absorb what it means that his campaign raised $150 million in September: John McCain got only $84 million in public financing for the entire campaign.…
Read MoreWho knows how this election will turn out in the end? There are about 500 polls out there, but now I’ve just seen one that makes sense to me (Not one of these automated dialing wonders by a machine that can’t tell if it’s talking to a sixty-year old man or a six year old…
Read MoreI enjoy reading Public Policy Polling’s polls, and they were on the money in the primaries. But I question whether PPP is reading more movement in voter opinion than is really happening. This week, PPP’s Tom Jensen said the “Yankee trash” issue has moved Eastern North Carolina voters toward Perdue and given her a 48-44…
Read MoreItâs like déjà vu all over again. The same thread runs through the Governorâs race that runs through the Presidential race. If you like President Bush you vote for McCrory. If you dislike President Bush you vote for Perdue â except for the Republicans who are unfavorable to the President, but who come home and…
Read MoreJack Betts says Senator Elizabeth Dole “missed a golden opportunity” to strengthen her chances for reelection when she waffled on the Outlying Landing Field. But Dole is much bigger. It’s her numbers. Not her poll numbers, but the numbers the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s brilliant ads have hammered into voters’ minds: 40, as in “40…
Read MoreJohn McCain has come up with the one Hail Mary issue that can snatch victory: spread the wealth. And the one image: Joe the Plumber. Attacking on “spread the wealth” pulls together all the attacks McCain makes against Obama: he’ll raise taxes, he’s an elitist who doesn’t understand “real people” and – most of all…
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