Is North Carolina already out of reach for President Obama?

Mitt Romney seems awfully confident that the swing state is going red

Obama supporter
(Image credit: Sean Meyers/ZUMA Press/Corbis)

In 2008, President Obama became the first Democratic candidate to win North Carolina since 1976. But this time around, polls have long shown that the purplish state is likely to return to its red roots. And since Mitt Romney clobbered Obama in the first presidential debate, the trend lines have only gotten gloomier for Team POTUS. It looks like Team Romney has all but wrapped things up in the Tar Heel State, says Peter Hamby at CNN:

In a clear sign the campaign is confident about putting North Carolina back in the Republican column this year, Mitt Romney's campaign is moving its spokesman out of the state and plans to shift more staffers out in the coming days.

The spokesman, Robert Reid, will be moved to Ohio, which is increasingly viewed by both campaigns as the central battleground of the 2012 race.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

However, it appears that the Obama campaign still thinks it has a shot in the state, which began early voting on Thursday. "First Lady Michelle Obama visited North Carolina Tuesday," says Leigh Ann Caldwell at CBS News, "and the Obama campaign's 'gottavote' election bus has spent the last few days there to encourage people to vote early."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us