Election 08: Obama not backing away from North Carolina

 

This aggressive action in the state has likely been spurred by recent polls, which show NC a lot closer than anticipated. The latest CNN/Time poll shows just a 1-point gap -- McCain 48%, Obama 47% -- and the most recent poll from Public Policy Polling shows the race tied.

 

John McCain's polls must be saying the same thing, because Republicans are gearing up in NC as well:

[J]ohn McCain's campaign announced plans to ratchet up its efforts in North Carolina.

The McCain campaign said Saturday that it had opened 14 offices in the state and hired 20 paid staffers - a number that said it would likely grow to 20 offices and 25 to 30 staffers.

"This is a state that Sen. Obama and his campaign have targeted and put extraordinary resources and finances in the state," said Mike DuHaime, the political director for the North Carolina McCain campaign.

Despite all this, Nate Silver at the election analysis blog 538 doesn't see North Carolina as being a decisive tipping-point state compared to, say, Virginia. But that seems to overlook the importance of this week's events, which show that Obama is forcing McCain to defend a state like North Carolina which in previous elections would have been a settled issue by now.