Obama Strategy Good For Lee GOP

Trying To Win NC Likely to Benefit Local Republicans

Although North Carolina has not voted for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976, the Obama campaign is confident that they can put the state into play this year. They are counting on the vast grassroots organization they built in the state during the primary contest, as well as Obama’s appeal to students, African Americans, and young professionals. His campaign chose to kick-off a two-week national tour to talk about the economy at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds on (click here to read story) Monday. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue, Senate candidate Kay Hagan and lieutenant governor candidate Walter Dalton were "nowhere to be found."

It looks like they hold to the traditional NC Democratic view that when it comes to national politics, being linked to their Presidential nominee is not a good idea. This despite the fact that
Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the North Carolina primary by a double-digit margin

And if this is true state wide, it is likely to be an even bigger factor here in Lee County. Barack Obama got only 42% of the votes in the democrat primary. This was Hillary County.
While the black vote is not negligible in Lee County, the county lacks a large student population and the kind of young professionals that have been attracted to Obama in more urban areas.

Odds are that you won't see local Democrats like Jerry Lemmond running around with Obama stickers plastered to his car. Meanwhile, the Republicans will be delighted if Obama is flooding the air waves with his liberal message. Like those at the top of the ticket here in the state, they will be "nowhere to be found" when it come to Obama.