North Carolina: First Real Race in a Generation (NYT)

[struggle4progress]

By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: November 1, 2008

... North Carolina has not seen a real presidential race for a generation. But in one of the biggest surprises of this long campaign season, Mr. Obama has pulled even in the polls with Senator John McCain.

Mr. Obama has more than twice as many offices, more than twice as many paid staff members and thousands more unpaid volunteers. He has outspent Mr. McCain more than eight to one on television advertising, although Mr. McCain has increased his spending in recent weeks ...

A record number of people have voted early; twice as many were Democrats as Republicans.

“My people didn’t always have the right to vote,” said Joseph Scott, 40, who works in banking, as he stood in line in Greensboro for more than an hour to vote for Mr. Obama ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/us/politics/02snorthcarolina.html?_r=1&oref=slogin