WRAL’s poll last week showed that John McCain is irrelevant to this election – and Barack Obama still faces a challenge.

The poll showed McCain leading only 45-42.

The good news for Democrats: McCain is weak, weak, weak. His problems: He’s old, and he represents George Bush’s third term.

The bad news: Obama is still where all Democratic presidential candidates have been since 1988: 42 percent.

The election – here as nationally – is not about McCain. It’s about whether voters get comfortable with President Obama.

The missing news: The poll did not give a breakdown by race. The key in North Carolina is whether Obama can get the magic number – 41 percent – of white voters. Or, if he can’t, how big the black turnout will be. Each additional percent of black voters, which is normally 18 percent here, means one less point that Obama needs among whites.

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