Supporters' Hard Work Changed N.C. Dynamic

CBS Evening News: How North Carolina Became One Of The Final '08 Battlegrounds

(CBS)  For the series, "Final Battleground," the CBS Evening News is traveling to three key areas of the country - the South, the Midwest and the West - to hone in on the states that will decide this presidential election. North Carolina is one state that could swing toward either Barack Obama or John McCain, CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield reports.

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Why were John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin rallying in North Carolina this week?

One big reason is Barack Obama's network of supporters working there to recruit voters - more than 17,000 of them.

"I've probably registered between 25 and 40 of my fellow high school students," said Allisa English, an Obama supporter.

The "ground game" of Obama's campaign is one big reason why North Carolina's 15 electoral votes, once thought to be safely in John McCain's column, are up for grabs, Greenfield reports.

"For the first time in the history of North Carolina, every precinct in the state will be worked by volunteers from that area," said Marc Farinella, the Obama campaign's North Carolina director.

As in every state, the Obama campaign has made organizing its mantra: Send some money and, as Farinella explained: "we're gonna go ahead and ask that you also volunteer and talk to your neighbors and friends."

"We have never seen anything like this, we have something like 400 staffers in the state - compared to McCain, which is about 30 staffers," said Rob Christensen, a political writer for the Raleigh News and Observer.

It's an effort that has helped Obama tap into an influx of hundreds of thousands of new North Carolina residents.

"Now a lot of these people moving in are Republicans, but they are a different breed. They're sort of Starbucks Republicans, they're more moderate, more open to voting for somebody like a Barack Obama," Christensen said.

Republicans like H.P. Pelzel or Epherem Hurdle - now active Obama volunteers - underline the importance of neighborhood organizing.

"When we're out volunteering, you're doing in your community, your neighborhood," said Hurdle. "I go door to door with people I may see at the Food Lion, that I may see in the doctor's office, people I see every day."

Sen. Richard Burr, who chairs McCain's state campaign, points to another huge Obama advantage: money. That's allowed Obama to spend more than $1.2 million on ads in one week alone, outspending McCain on TV here 8 to 1.

"At the end of the day, though, this election's gonna be decided on things that we've decided on elections of the past, on taxes, on policies that really do hit the average American that affect them directly," Burr said.

Even if McCain wins North Carolina, Obama's massive efforts there have already won him a kind of victory - by forcing Republicans to divert time, energy, and money into a battle they never thought they were going to have to fight.

[albertw40]

Obama supporters hard work has changed the dynamic everywhere. Now the challenge for them will be to keep on working truly hard until the last poll is closed. Then if Obama is elected, they will be called to help form the "from the bottom up" type government Obama envisions. It is time for our government to care about the ordinary people, not just the rich CEOs and Corporations.

[forthinvader]

Democrats hate Republicans. That is what we have been taught to believe. I have accepted the fact that most black Americans are Democrats. So my question is, do Democrats really hate Martin Luther King Jr.?
MLK was a registered Republican from 1956 and throughout his life. It was Ronald Reagan who signed the law to make MLK''s birthday a national holiday, and it was the Republicans who overwhelmed the Democrats to grant Civil Rights to our black brothers. So why the hate? Because Democrat White Liberal Racists are really good liars.

[koko98-2009]

Don''t forget a highly competitive Senate race factors into an advantage for the Democrats.

[starleo146]

You know you desperate republicans are the ones that are spreading hate! Oh yeah but you get so defensive about the truth of what that ignorant backwoods Sarah palin really is!

Posted by Kila_MaDDoGG at 12:10 PM : Oct 18, 200

Great post and so so true, They would rather have a insane dumb guy, than a constitutional lawyer and a Harvard graduate, with great intellect, they are really bigots. He11 Obama may step into the White House, and run this country on what it was founded on the constitution, and you know what they called that. Bush said a g--d--- piece of paper. The republicans couldn''t stand that, all those unconstitutional executive orders may have to be erased .

[donsem-2009]

I have been in socialist country''s a lot of times and this system of campaign is excactly how they do that. In Venezuela it happens all the times and it works. The people are beeing informed of one thing whiel the government does otherwise. I am looking forward to the point that the USA will soon have many states sponsered TV and radio stations..

[dinslc]

mrcrosby12

Stop the slander.

Your accusations are baseless, ridiculous lies.

More people are voting than ever, because of grassroots efforts. People are finally standing up to the rich porky republicans in power.


The age of Republican/Big Business government is over.

You''ll have to accept that truth, eventually.

[max0010]

Redistribution of money and honored traditions and respect to those who fought to keep America free are thrown under the bus.
New Hampshire, October 17%u2014The National Anthem and the Pledge of Alliance was scratched according to Sandra Abrevaya, communications director for the Obama campaign at the last minute because they needed more time for speeches. SOCIALISM IS ROLLING IN. We do not need the traditions, the respect, the flag, and the pledge anymore -----CHANGE IS COMING. The flag pin finally gets tossed into the wastebasket, right OBAMA.

[norcalruss]

10. Bush Light and
Dan-Quayle-in-dress

9. Beauty and
the Beast

8. McBush and
His McMuffin

7. Snow White and
Grumpy

6. Dumbo and
Bimbo

5. Igloo and
7 houses more-or-less

4. B00bs and
Wrinkles

3. Arizona ****** and
The Alaska Airhead

2. Geritol and
Mooseburger

1. Numb Nuts and
Furburger

[powersmaker]

GO NC for Obama ...

[abmitus]

YES WE WILL!

OBAMA / BIDEN 08/12

[tootsie001]

You MUST read this to understand the Real John McCain:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

[tootsie001]

You MUST read this to understand the Real John McCain:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

[bragova]

Yes! The attacks do motivate us to give money, and not only to Obama. After watching Hardball today I got a message from my brother saying that he had just made a contribution to Michelle Bachman''s opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg. I asked for a link--it''s http://www.tinklenberg08.com/-- and gave him some money too.

[butterflyxo]

SENCVoter,
You hit the nail on the head!!! When McCain, Palin and their supporters take low grimy negative swipes at Obama, it not only turns people off..it motivates them even more to get involved and work even harder for Obama/Biden to win.

When McCain and friends attack, I donate money to Obama''s campaign. And when they really annoy me, I donate my time and I call swing states to get out the vote. Tomorrow I am going from New York to Stroudsburg PA to volunteer.

Obama has organized tens of thousands of employees/volunteers to work his campaign. PEOPLE COMING TOGETHER!! THIS IS WHAT MAKES AMERICA STRONG!

McCain can''t even control his own campaign, let alone organize it.

And he will do a good job at bringing people together and running our Country???

Obama/Biden 08''

[abro915]

SENCvoter: Hey California! So am I.
And you''re absolutely right. The more I read of the idiotic comments from McCain supporters, the more disgusted I am with his entire campaign.
I actually voted for McCain in the primaries. But his self-destructive campaign of ridiculously childish slurs, Palin and pandering to trailer trash infuriates me.
I''m not a aggravated by the actions as much as I am about what''s happened to the Grand Old Party I grew up with. Over the last couple decades, I''ve watched our party become infested with self-serving fanatics and hate mongers, driving away intellectual conservatism.
The last living brain cell left with Chris Buckley. And all that''s left is McCain, Palin and Joe six pack.

[sencvoter]

It is people like myself and my husband that arechanging the political landscape in North Carolina. We are West Coasters who came here for jobs and climate. Many others came from other parts of the country for similar reasons. Obama understood that and made a serious effort in capturing our votes. People like whiner245a should just keep talking the way they have been because, just like McCain''s negative campaign, they turn other people off. Being loud and obnoxious doesn''t mean that you are knowledgeable. Ultimately, it reveals more about the people that are doing it than about the people that they are attacking.

[thisniss]

thank you tollkinder! we''re used to being over-looked and under-estimated down here in the Tar Heel state, but miscounted is less frequent (except, of course, in the case of Obama supporters in NC polling samples). :-)

It''s alright, though. Obama understood the dynamics of the state from day one, which is why he''s been able to do here what no Democratic Presidential candidate has done in three decades.

[tollkinder]

15 electoral votes. not 13.