Then-Sen. Obama campaigned in Bristol, VA soon after securing the Democratic nomination in June of last year.

(CNN) - President Barack Obama takes his battle for health-care reform to two battleground states Wednesday.

The president will hold a town hall at Broughton High School in Raleigh, North Carolina and another later at a Kroger supermarket in Bristol, Virginia, along the Tennessee border.

When the president leaves the nation's capital for events across the country, the location matters. And North Carolina and Virginia matter.

Both states hold important elections over the next year and a half. In North Carolina, Republican Senator Richard Burr is up for re-election next year. In Virginia, Democrats are trying to hold on to the governor's office in this November's election.

Next week, Obama campaigns in Virginia with the Democrats' gubernatorial candidate, Creigh Deeds.

While 2012 may be a long way down the political road, presidential campaign politics may also be at play. Both states are considered swing or battleground states, which both parties think they have a chance of winning and will fight for in the next race for the White House. Obama won both states last year, the first Democrat to win a presidential election in North Carolina since 1976 and Virginia since 1964.

This is Obama's second trip to both states since taking over in the White House in January. It may just be coincidence, but many of the states Obama has visited since his January 20 inauguration - Virginia, Indiana, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, and Nevada - are all potential battlegrounds in the next presidential contest.

"The White House doesn't make decisions on presidential visits by chance," says Stuart Rothenberg, editor in chief of the non-partisan Rothenberg Political Report.
Obama is no stranger to Bristol, Virginia. On June 5, 2008, at the end of the Democratic primaries, he kicked off his general election campaign in the southwestern Virginia city. And he last campaigned in Raleigh in late October, just days before the presidential election.

"Has the next presidential campaign started? No, the last campaign never really ended," adds CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider.

Updated 7/30/09, 11:39 a.m.

Republican senator Richard Burr is a top Democratic target in 2010.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – When North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper ruled out a run for the Senate last week, national Democrats lost their top choice to take on Republican incumbent Richard Burr in 2010.

But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee still sees Burr as vulnerable, and several state Democrats have emerged as potential challengers in the wake of Cooper's decision. The Raleigh News and Observer even suggested Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, might jump into the ring.

Still, the DSCC - which is otherwise staying mum on the recruitment process - is taking four Democratic candidates seriously at the moment, according to a committee source.

Their top candidates are, in no particular order: Rep. Heath Shuler, the former NFL quarterback and second term congressman from western North Carolina's 11th district; Rep. Bob Etheridge from the Raleigh-area second district; former state Treasurer Richard Moore, who lost in the state's Democratic gubernatorial primary last year; and Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton.

Also considering a run is former state senator Cal Cunningham, a 35-year old lawyer and Army reservist who just returned from Iraq and has been traveling the state meeting with party members. Cunningham told CNN he's "been talking to a lot of friends and fellow Democrats about returning to public service, and I've been getting positive encouragement."

Cunningham said he's "talked to folks in Washington, and we'll expect those conversations to continue."

Along with North Carolina, the DSCC sees Republican senate seats in Louisiana and Kentucky as possible pick-ups in the next cycle.

Burr is a top Democratic target in 2010.

(CNN) – North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr said Thursday he was merely reacting to the economic crisis last fall the way many Americans did when he advised his family to withdraw as much cash as they could from their bank accounts.

"There are individuals in this country who keep cash at home," Burr told the Charlotte News and Observer. "I don't happen to be one of those. I live from ATM machine to ATM machine. The reality is when you look at a financial industry that is not exchanging capital, it immediately says you better have a little bit of cash set aside."

The North Carolina Republican has taken heat this week after he told a gathering of business leaders in his home state that the collapse of major financial institutions last fall convinced him his family's bank accounts could have been frozen.

"On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, 'Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday,'" Burr said during a speech at a Henderson County Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday.

National Democrats quickly seized on the comment, characterizing it as irresponsible at best and damaging at worst. But a NRSC spokesman defended the remark, telling CNN, "It's little wonder Americans want to keep their hard earned money away from the grips of Washington."

Clarifying his comments Thursday, Burr said its important to remember what the economic landscape looked like last fall when he pushed for the bank withdrawals.

"That was when the financial architecture of the industry was in jeopardy," he said. "It was when cash was frozen from institution to institution. The purpose of TARP was to stabilize that architecture to free up the flow of capital from bank to bank and bank to business.

"That part of the economic crisis is over."

Burr, whose approval ratings are languishing in recent state polls, is likely to face a difficult reelection race in 2010, though Democrats have yet to field a candidate.

The President recently refused to predict a winner in a face-off between two North Carolina college basketball teams.

(CNN) - Apparently ever the consensus-builder, President Barack Obama avoided taking sides in the perennial feud that is the Duke-North Carolina men's college basketball rivalry.

President Obama was meeting with a group of regional reporters Wednesday to pitch his stimulus package - just hours before the Tobacco Road showdown in Durham, North Carolina - when the topic of the game came up, according to the Raleigh News and Observer.

The President, a basketball star in high school, declined to take a position.

At first, Obama hinted he might side with the Duke Blue Devils. He said team was “coming off one of the worst losses it has had in several years,” a blowout loss to Clemson last week that coach Mike Krzyzewski might have used as motivation in practice.

“They might be fired up,” Obama said. “I hope it’s a close game.”

But even though he famously scrimmaged with the Tar Heels before the state's primary last year, Obama also declined to support the University of North Carolina. Why? He pointed to his personal aide, Reggie Love, who played at Duke.

“If I said anything contrary to Duke, I might not be able to find my Blackberry,” he joked.

North Carolina won the game, 101-87.

Updated 9:43 a.m.

Voters were in line before sunrise at one North Carolina polling place Tuesday morning.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rain in parts of North Carolina caused some early problems for voters using optical scanner ballots Tuesday, but a memo about using paper towels seemed to dry up the problem, according to North Carolina officials.

Voters were coming into voting locations early Tuesday morning and getting the paper ballots wet as they handled them, according to Gary Bartlett, Executive Director of the North Carolina Election Board.

"We sent out a memo to the county election boards asking them to hand out paper towels to voters before they were given a ballot," Bartlett said.

Bartlett was not sure how many calls his office received Tuesday, but he said it was very few before he recognized the potential problem and sent out the message.

The problem seemed to subside, Bartlett said, as he saw a drop in the number of calls reporting the wet ballot problem later in the morning.

Optical scanner ballots use a paper ballot that is filled out by voters in pencil and then slid into a machine that reads the ballot.

If the ballot is wet the machine has trouble feeding the paper and it can jam or tear.

Two individual reports of wet ballot problems were reported in Wake County, NC Tuesday, according to election officials.

Wake County covers the area around the state capital, Raleigh.

One wet ballot jammed in a machine, forcing voting officials at the polling location to replace the machine and re-scan the ballot.

A second ballot jammed and was ripped when it was pulled back out of the machine. The individual was allowed to fill out another ballot and the old ballot was cancelled, according to Cherie Poucher, Director of the Wake County Election Board.

One common problem in North Carolina is voters voting a straight ticket ballot.

The ballot is designed to put the vote for president in a different column when voting for a single party. Voters sometimes miss the different column to vote for President.

The ballot has been in use since the late 1960's, but questions by voters often come up, Bartlett said.

Counties were again warned of the problem and told to inform voters if they were going to vote a straight ticket, according to Bartlett.

Wake County handed out flyers to both early voters and voters on Tuesday to remind them of how the ballot works, according to Poucher.

"We have received just a handful of calls about this issue this year," Poucher said.

New gains for Obama on the CNN Electoral Map.

(CNN) - If Barack Obama is betting on Nevada, he may find a pleasant payoff. A new poll suggests that the Democratic presidential candidate is widening his lead there.

That's contributing to an increase in territory for Obama in CNN's Electoral College Map. The map estimates what would occur if the election were held today, by reviewing state polls, voting trends, campaign visits and advertising.

In the Nevada survey - one of five CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation state polls released Thursday morning - 52 percent of likely voters say Obama is their choice for president, with 45 percent backing John McCain. That seven-point lead is up from a five-point advantage Obama held in a poll taken one week ago.

Nevada narrowly voted for George W. Bush in the last two presidential contests.

"Obama is racking up support among blue collar voters in Nevada," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Two weeks ago, he had a six-point lead among people with no college degree. Now he has a 23-point lead over McCain among that group. If the unions are making a big push for Obama in Nevada, it seems to be working."

The new numbers in Nevada, along with similar findings from other new polls in the state, are factors that led CNN to move Nevada and its five electoral votes from a "toss-up" state to "lean Obama" in its new Electoral College Map.

With that change, CNN estimates that if the election were held today, Obama would win 291 electoral votes compared with 163 for McCain; another 84 electoral votes are up for grabs.

A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

On Wednesday, CNN switched Colorado and its nine electoral votes from "toss up" to "lean Obama," thanks to a number of new polls, including a CNN/Time/ORC poll that suggests Obama has an eight-point lead in Colorado.

CNN also changed Indiana, which has 11 electoral votes, from "lean McCain" to "toss up." A new CNN Poll of Polls suggests McCain holds a two-point lead over Obama in Indiana, which hasn't voted for a Democrat in a presidential election since 1964.

The Poll of Polls is an average of the latest state surveys.

The state of Washington was also moved from "lean Obama" to "safe Obama," though that move doesn't change the electoral count.

With the prospect of losing some of the states that President Bush won four years ago, McCain, R-Arizona, has his eyes on Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes.

McCain and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and surrogates are spending a lot of time campaigning in the state. McCain hopes to become the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state since 1988.

A new poll, however, suggests that McCain's efforts may not be paying off.

Fifty-five percent of likely voters in Pennsylvania say they are backing Senator Obama, D-Illinois, with 43 percent supporting McCain. That 12-point lead for Obama is up from a nine-point advantage he held in CNN's last poll in the state, conducted last month.

"Pennsylvania is the keystone to McCain's electoral college strategy, but he faces a tough task," said Holland. "Obama has an edge in Philadelphia, of course, but also in the Philly suburbs, and he's ahead by six points in the western part of the state."

Another state McCain needs to keep in the Republican camp is Ohio, where 20 electoral votes are up for grabs. The new poll indicates Obama holds a small four-point lead, 51 percent to 47 percent. Both campaigns are spending a lot of time and money in Ohio in this last week before the election.

It's a simliar story in North Carolina, which last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1976, when Jimmy Carter was running. A new poll suggests Obama has a six-point lead over McCain, 52 percent to 46 percent.

Obama was up by four points in our last poll, conducted last week.

"Other polls are showing North Carolina is essentially tied, but our poll shows Obama picking up support among younger voters and the blue-collar segment. Those are two reasons the race in North Carolina has gone from a 49-49 tie in early October to a 52-46 edge for Obama, at least in our results," Holland said.

The poll indicates McCain holds a small lead in his home state of Arizona - 53 percent to 46 percent. Another poll released this week suggests the race is closer in Arizona, which McCain has represented in Congress for 26 years.

The poll was also expanded to include the major third party candidates, Independent Ralph Nader, Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, and Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney.

None of them are polling over 3 percent in any of the states surveyed, and none seem to be a factor in the outcome of the results in those five states - other than Ohio, where Nader's 3 percent showing could have an impact.

The CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted Thursday through Tuesday. It surveyed 807 likely voters in Arizona, 684 likely voters in Nevada, 667 likely voters in North Carolina, 779 likely voters in Ohio, and 768 likely voters in Pennsylvania.

The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points in Arizona, Ohio and Pennsylvania and plus or minus 4 percentage points in Nevada and North Carolina.

Warren Tompkins, standing, is a veteran GOP strategist.

NEW YORK (CNN) - Warren Tompkins, the hard-hitting South Carolina Republican consultant who worked against John McCain during the state’s vicious primary battle in 2000, is now toiling in North Carolina alongside McCain’s campaign on behalf of the Republican National Committee, according to sources.

Tompkins has been working in the state for two weeks, participating in conference calls and traveling up from South Carolina for meetings, said one southern GOP operative.

A McCain campaign official said that Tompkins is volunteering for the campaign, doing so through the RNC, but that he has only been in the state for “a few days.”

The presidential race in North Carolina has tightened in recent weeks, and CNN has moved the reliably red state into the “toss-up” category. The state’s down-ballot Republican candidates - Senator Elizabeth Dole and gubernatorial candidate Pat McCrory - are also in tough races.

“He is working for the RNC, so therefore coordinating with all the campaigns,” the operative said of Tompkins. “It’s the final few weeks of a campaign and you need people with experience, and frankly there are not many people in the southeast with near the experience that he has.”

Tompkins, known for hardball tactics, has long been accused of orchestrating a smear campaign against McCain in 2000, but he has never been formally linked to any of the attacks carried out against the Arizona senator. The Columbia-based strategist was a senior adviser to Mitt Romney’s primary campaign in South Carolina last year.

The McCain official said Tompkins was just one of many Republicans coming on board to help the McCain campaign in its final weeks.

“We’re deploying hundreds of political operatives to the battleground states,” the official said.

Palin stumped in traditionally-red North Carolina Thursday

ELON, North Carolina (CNN) – Thursday marked the first day of early voting in North Carolina, a state unaccustomed to being in the political spotlight this late in a presidential election year.

But at an afternoon rally at Elon University near Greensboro, Republican Sarah Palin did not offer her supporters even the gentlest reminder that early voting - an opportunity both parties are working to take advantage of - is now underway at nearly 400 sites across the battleground state. Long lines at one-stop voting locations have been reported throughout North Carolina.

She did, however, mention the 85 degree heat.

“Thank you all for that very, very warm welcome to beautiful North Carolina, and it is warm,” she said. “Man, this Alaskan gal is … I’m roasting. This feels really good.”

Palin’s speech lasted only about 20 minutes, and was an abbreviated version of the remarks she delivered this morning in Maine: a brisk run-through of her ticket’s beliefs and platforms, including a one-line promise to protect Second Amendment rights.

In fact, the audience spent more time with country singer Hank Williams, Jr., who donned a Carolina Panthers jersey and warmed up the already warm crowd for about 45 minutes before Palin arrived on a local version of the Straight Talk Express along with North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr.

Near the end of her speech, Palin pressed the audience to stand firm against accusations of negative campaigning, and told them to pay “close attention” to Barack Obama’s record.

“It’s not mean-spirited and it’s not negative campaigning when you call someone out on their record,” she said. “So don’t let anyone, don’t let them make you believe that you’re being negative or mean spirited or unpatriotic or unfair when you are asking about somebody’s record, OK?”

After the rally, Palin continued on to a fundraiser at a home in Greensboro.

McCain is campaigning in states he had hoped to have sewn up at this point in the race.

(CNN) - John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning Monday in two states that haven't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in more than four decades, a clear indication the GOP ticket is scrambling to defend longtime Republican strongholds with only three weeks until Election Day.

But at a time when the McCain campaign had hoped to have shored up its support in the traditional red states, a string of new surveys show Obama has made significant gains there as voters become increasingly worried about the nation's financial woes.

McCain and Palin held a joint rally in Virginia Beach Monday morning before the two candidates split up, as the Republican nominee heads down to North Carolina as his running mate stays behind for more events in Virginia. It’s only the second time McCain has made visits to either state in more than four months, and comes as a series of battleground surveys suggest his playing field is increasingly shrinking.

Watch: McCain on defense

But while McCain has largely been absent from both states all summer, the Obama campaign has aggressively built up on the ground organizations there, outspent their GOP rival considerably on staff and television commercials, and worked to register tens of thousands of new voters.  The Arizona senator has also been badly out-campaigned in the two states.  According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the Democratic ticket has made nine visits to Virginia and seven stops in North Carolina.  That compares to just one visit in Virginia and two in North Carolina on the Republican side.

And in a sign of just how seriously the McCain campaign is worried about both states, the Arizona senator unveiled a re-vamped stump speech there that an aide says is a "frank assessment" of where the race for the White House stands.

"We have 22 days to go. We're 6 points down," he said. "The national media has written us off…. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we've got them just where we want them."

A loss in either state could prove devastating to the Arizona senator's presidential hopes, given his campaign’s recent pullout from competing in Michigan and sagging poll numbers in many of the other key battleground states. Should Virginia or North Carolina tilt Obama's way, the Arizona senator would have to compensate by taking a state such as Pennsylvania that appears solidly leaning in Obama's direction.

But it's not only the nation's flagging economy that is helping tilt both Southern states toward Obama. In addition to the Illinois senator's considerable money advantage there, each state has undergone significant demographic shifts over the last two decades that have made Democrats steadily more competitive.

"The North Carolina and Virgina of today is far more diverse than they were twenty or even ten years ago," CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib said. "The states' changing economy has attracted thousands of new voters willing to pull the lever for a Democratic nominee."

Then there’s the unknown variable of an anticipated rise in turnout in the African-American community. In 2006, that voting bloc made up 26 percent of North Carolina's electorate and 21 percent of the Virginia electorate. Obama will likely win a higher percentage of the black vote this cycle in both states than John Kerry’s 87 percent, and unprecedented turnout is expected.

But despite a series of developments that appear to be shifting the states away from McCain, the Arizona senator told his supporters he's not giving up yet.

"Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight," he said at the Virginia Beach rally. "America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history."

Obama makes major gains on the new CNN Electoral Map.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released Tuesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making major gains.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls of likely voters in Indiana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin reflect a significant nationwide shift toward the Democratic presidential nominee.

Check out the latest CNN Electoral Map

In Indiana, 51 percent of likely voters say Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is their choice for president, with 46 percent backing Obama. Indiana went for George W. Bush by 21 points four years ago; the Democrats have not carried the state since 1964.

Obama has made significant strides in New Hampshire, a state which is credited with reviving McCain’s GOP primary campaign in both 2000 and 2008. Fifty-three percent of the state’s likely voters are backing Obama, while 45 percent are supporting McCain. Obama’s eight-point lead is larger than the five-point lead held by Obama in the last CNN New Hampshire poll taken in the beginning of September.

Bush squeezed out a slender one-point win in the state in 2000 - but four years ago, John Kerry narrowly carried the one-time GOP stronghold.

In North Carolina, the two major party nominees are locked in a dead heat, with McCain and Obama each claiming the support of 49 percent of likely voters.

“Obama's strongest region is in the Raleigh/Durham area,” noted CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “McCain does best in Charlotte and the surrounding counties.”

The last Democrat to carry North Carolina was Jimmy Carter in 1976. The state’s 15 electoral votes are considered to be critical to any successful Republican presidential campaign.

McCain currently trails Obama by three points in Ohio; 50 percent of likely voters favor Obama, while 47 percent favor McCain. No Republican has won the White House without carrying the state.

“McCain has a six-point lead in the Cincinnati area,” said Holland. “But a GOP candidate normally needs to do better than that in southwestern Ohio in order to win the state. And overall, Obama actually has a two-point edge among suburban communities across the state.”

In Wisconsin, which hasn’t voted Republican since 1984, Obama is holding a 51 to 46 percent lead among likely voters.

“Obama continues to maintain a ‘home field advantage’ in the southern Wisconsin counties that border Illinois,” noted Holland. “He has nearly a 30-point lead in the city of Milwaukee, although he loses the Milwaukee suburbs by nearly as large a margin.”

The new CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls are behind several new shifts in the CNN Electoral College map.

CNN is shifting North Carolina, with 15 electoral votes, from leaning toward McCain to toss-up. CNN is moving Wisconsin and its 10 electoral votes, and New Hampshire and its four electoral votes from toss-up to “lean Obama.”

Finally, CNN is switching Michigan and its 17 electoral votes from leaning toward Obama to safe for Obama. The McCain campaign announced last week that it was shifting its resources out of the once hotly-contested Rust Belt state, instead intensify efforts in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Ohio.

With these moves, CNN estimates that if the presidential election were held today, Obama would win states with 264 electoral votes and McCain would win states with 174 electoral votes, with 100 electoral votes still up for grabs. To win the White House, 270 electoral votes are needed. Obama’s lead has expanded by 29 electoral votes when compared his margin in CNN’s last electoral map, which was released on October 1.

The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls were conduced October 3-6, with 677 likely voters in Indiana; 813 likely voters in New Hampshire; 666 likely voters in North Carolina; 749 likely voters in Ohio; and 859 likely voters in Wisconsin, all questioned by telephone.

The survey’s sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points in New Hampshire, Ohio and Wisconsin, and plus or minus 4 percentage points in Indiana and North Carolina.

Palin will go to Greenville, North Carolina Tuesday.

(CNN) - The McCain campaign announced Sarah Palin is set to make a stop in North Carolina Tuesday night, two days after the Republican VP candidate stumped in Nebraska - two reliably red states that haven't voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in at least three decades.

Palin's most recent travel schedule is the latest indication Barack Obama and the nation's ailing economy have put John McCain on the defensive, even in states where the prospect of a Democratic win was unthinkable only four years ago.

Palin's visit to North Carolina comes as most recent polls of the state show Obama and McCain essentially in a dead heat there. A CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation poll of North Carolina last month showed the candidates dead even, while some recent polls have even suggested a slight Democratic lead. CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation will release a new North Carolina poll Tuesday morning.

Election Center: Check out the latest state polls

Then there’s the unknown variable of an anticipated rise in turnout in the African-American community. In 2006 that voting bloc made up 26 percent of North Carolina's electorate, with 85 percent voting for Sen. John Kerry. Obama is expected to win an even higher percentage of the black vote this cycle, with a higher expected turnout as well.

"The North Carolina of today is far more diverse than the North Carolina of twenty or even ten years ago," CNN Senior Political Researcher Alan Silverleib said. "The state’s changing economy has attracted thousands of new voters willing to pull the lever for a Democratic nominee. Second, the state’s sizable African-American voting bloc is extremely energized by Obama’s candidacy. Third, the economic downturn has made Tar Heel voters — just like voters in the rest of the country — much more receptive to the Democratic message of change."

Palin's appearance in the state comes more than five months after McCain held his last public event there, delivering a speech in early May at Wake Forest on his vision for judicial appointments. The event came the same day as Indiana and North Carolina's Democratic primaries and was largely overshadowed by the still-ongoing battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

McCain-Palin spokesman Ben Porritt said Monday the campaign remains confident the Republican ticket will carry the state.

"This is a state that Barack Obama has put millions of dollars into," he said. "This is an opportunity to speak to our supporters there and makes sure they turn out."

Porritt also declined to say whether McCain has any plans to visit North Carolina before Election Day.

The North Carolina visit comes after Palin traveled to Nebraska's Second Congressional District Sunday, prompting pundits to speculate the McCain campaign is worried the Obama could peel off an electoral vote there. Nebraska, like Maine, awards its electoral votes by the winner of each congressional district, and the second district - which includes Omaha and its surrounding areas - is the most Democratic.

But Palin told Nebraska voters Sunday she was not visiting the state because the campaign was worried about a possible loss there.

“The pundits today on TV—one of them was saying, check out the vice president’s schedule, check out where she’s going—she’s going to Nebraska,” she said. “But the pundit was saying the only reason she’d be going there is ‘cause they’re scared, so they got to go there and shore up votes. And I wanted to reach into that TV and say no, I’m going to Nebraska because I want to go to Nebraska."

Watch Michelle Obama's event on CNN.com/live.

(CNN) – Michelle Obama is campaigning on behalf of her husband in Charlotte, North Carolina this hour - a state that hasn't voted Democrat in more than 30 years but one that polls show could be up for grabs this election.

She is holding an economic round-table with working women in Charlotte, and will speak at a rally in Greensboro later Thursday.

Read Michelle Obama's remarks after the jump

UPDATE: This event has ended, but stay with CNN.com/live for the day's latest campaign events.

Remarks of Michelle Obama

North Carolina Economic Roundtable with Working Women

Thursday, September 18

Charlotte, North Carolina

As Prepared for Delivery

I want to thank Elaine Marshall for joining us today. Over 10 years ago, you broke barriers here in North Carolina, by becoming the first woman elected to a statewide executive office. And during your time as secretary of state, you’ve been such a strong advocate for women and children. Thank you for bringing your experiences to our conversation today.

I’m also joined by four women from right here in Charlotte. Today, we’re talking about issues that they know very well, because they live these issues every day. They are Essie Reynolds, Stacy Branning, Betsy Olinger, and Deanna Boskovich. Thank you for joining us to share your stories.

It’s great to be here, to have this chance to talk about the issues that are always on my mind, and that I know are on your minds… the issues that matter most to women and families.

Like many of you, and like women I’ve met all across the country, I juggle several different roles in my life. I’m a wife, I’m a working woman, I’m a daughter, a sister and a friend.

But most importantly, I’m a mom. My girls are the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. No matter where I am—at work, on the campaign trail, you name it—they’re always on my mind.

So for me, policies that support working women and families aren’t just political issues. They’re personal. They’re the causes I carry in my heart every single day.

I’m always amazed at how different things are for working families today than when I was growing up. When I was a kid, my father, a blue-collar city worker, could earn enough from his job to support our whole family, while my mother stayed home to take care of my brother and me. But today, one income—especially a shift worker’s income like my dad’s—just doesn’t cut it. In most families, both parents have to work.

And it’s even harder for single parents. Here in North Carolina, roughly one in eight households are run by single women—folks who often have to work more than one job to make ends meet. And that’s not counting the jobs you do when the workday is done and the kids are in bed – jobs like doing the laundry, and packing those lunches, and fixing the house. And when the bills keep piling up, and that list of chores seems endless, many of us find ourselves doing yet another job – worrying late into the night.

Now, I know that if you ask anyone here, they’d agree that caring for their families is the greatest joy of their lives. They wouldn’t trade it for anything. We all know that being a parent is the best job in the world – most days, at least.

But as Barack and I have traveled this country over the past year and a half, we’ve heard from so many parents who are working as hard as they can to do it all, but just can’t seem to get ahead.

Each of the women up on this stage has a unique story. But all of their stories point to a common trend. Working women and families are shouldering an enormous burden, and they carry it with pride and without complaint. But that load shouldn’t be so heavy – and they shouldn’t have to bear it all by themselves.

That’s what this election is about for Barack and for me…the families who are doing everything asked of them and more.

And they’re not asking for the government to solve all their problems. They’re just asking for Washington to understand what’s happening to their families and to be on their side for a change.

This is something that Barack understands very well, because he’s been there.

Barack was raised by a young single mom who put herself through school. She was determined to show him that there are no barriers to your success if you’re willing to work for it. But he also saw her struggle to make ends meet, at times worrying about how she would pay the bills.

Barack and I both were lucky enough to go to college and law school. But our education came at a cost. We just finished paying off our student loans a few years ago. So we know how it feels to carry debt.

And Barack has seen firsthand how people are impacted when the economy suffers. He spent years working in neighborhoods in Chicago that were devastated when steel plants shut down and jobs dried up. That’s why he’s worked hard to create new jobs and reform our schools, to give our young people the skills they need to succeed in this economy.

Barack gets it. He understands that people aren’t asking for much. They just want policies that help them in their everyday lives. Policies that give them a chance to work hard and get ahead. They’re looking for a Washington that doesn’t stand in their way.

So on Election Day, we have a choice to make. And when I look at the two candidates and their plans for America’s future, and when I think about all the families I’ve met across the country, and the kind of help they could use right now, the choice is clear.

Barack is the only candidate in this election who has built his economic plan around the middle class, by giving a tax cut to 95 percent of all working Americans, rewarding companies that create jobs here in America, and ensuring that women are paid fairly for our work. In North Carolina, women make just 82 cents for every dollar that a man earns. Over the course of a lifetime, that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars – money people could be spending on gas and groceries and saving for college. Barack is determined to close that pay gap once and for all.

He’s the only candidate with a health plan that will cover all Americans and save families up to $2,500, and require insurance companies to cover preventive care and stop turning their backs on people with pre-existing conditions.

Barack is the only candidate who has a long-term energy plan that looks beyond quick fixes and makes real investments in renewable energy, to end our dependence on foreign oil and protect our planet for our kids and grandkids.

He’s the only candidate with a comprehensive plan to invest in our schools, by strengthening early childhood education, recruiting an army of new teachers, and making college affordable for students from all different backgrounds.

He’s the only candidate who will expand the Family and Medical Leave Act and require employers to provide workers with at least seven paid sick days a year. Because he believes, like you and I believe, that it’s unacceptable that twenty-two million working women don’t have a single paid sick day. People shouldn’t be fired for getting sick or staying home to care for a sick child or parent. That’s not who we are.

And Barack is the only candidate who has a timeline for bringing our troops home from Iraq responsibly, so that we can rebuild our military and start investing the $10 billion we’re spending each month in Iraq right here at home.

This is the choice we face. These policies – Barack’s policies – are the change we need. In the end, Barack is determined to change Washington, so that instead of just talking about family values, we actually have policies that value families.

That’s why I’m here today. I’m here for my daughters’ future—and all our children’s future. They’re my stake in this election. I’m here today because I want to leave them a better world—a world where they’ll have opportunities that we and our mothers and grandmothers could only dream of.

That’s the choice we face in this election: whether we’ll start building that better world right now, or have another four years that look just like the last eight.

And making that choice begins with understanding what’s really happening with America’s families.

So I’d like to turn the conversation to our guests here, to learn more about what’s going on with their lives, their kids, their jobs, what’s working, what’s not working, and where they could use some extra help in getting it all done.

MoveOn released a new ad, 'Pocket,' Tuesday.

(CNN)— MoveOn.org has their sights set on Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s unexpectedly competitive contest for re-election in North Carolina, spending nearly half a million dollars on an ad accusing the North Carolina senator and fellow Republican John McCain of being “in the pocket of Big Oil.”

“We could have provided clean energy for a million homes…or reduced our dependence on foreign oil,” the announcer says. “Instead, John McCain and Elizabeth Dole allowed big oil companies to keep $13.5 billion dollars in tax breaks.”

Dole, who currently has $2.7 million in her campaign war chest to State Senator Kay Hagan’s $1.6 million, was thought to be a safe bet for re-election, but finds herself in an unexpectedly tough fight.

The 30-second spot, “Pocket,” is MoveOn’s first Senate race ad this cycle, according to Communications Director Ilyse Hogue. She added that MoveOn currently has no set plans to use similar versions of the ad in other states, but has not ruled out the possibility, as the nation’s energy woes continue to dominate headlines this campaign season.

Dole campaign spokesman Dan McLagan downplayed the potential statewide impact of the MoveOn buy, saying Dole had already been hit with a million dollars in outside spending, “and they are welcome to spend more. That dog ain't gonna hunt down here. These are the same surrender monkeys that called for a peaceful response to the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Their credibility in North Carolina is pretty low."

Dole, who was the first female senator to be elected in North Carolina, was also the first female chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, serving from 2005-2007. Dole was replaced by Sen. John Ensign after the Republicans lost control of the Senate in 2006.

MoveOn isn’t the only outside group targeting Dole this cycle. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has sunk $6 million into an ad buy targeting the North Carolina senator.

On the presidential level, North Carolina — which hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976 - is leaning toward presumed Republican nominee John McCain in CNN’s latest analysis of the Electoral Map.

CNN Electoral Map: Who's ahead?

But Barack Obama’s campaign has made it clear that it considers North Carolina a battleground state, and has launched an ambitious effort to bring Democrats, particularly newly-registered black voters, to the polls in November. The resources being lavished on the presidential race are expected to translate into gains for Democrats further down the ticket, including Hagan. “North Carolina is a state that is a hotly contested Senate race, and also within striking distance of becoming a presidential battleground state,” said Hogue.

“There is certainly a buzz on the ground,” said Hagan’s campaign press secretary, Dave Hoffman, who also said Hagan would hit the campaign trial with Obama this fall.

The MoveOn ad, airing in Raleigh, Charlotte and Asheville will coincide with 130 events across the country to “show the local economic impact of John McCain’s tax give-away to Big Oil,” according to a press release from the group.

John and Elizabeth Edwards made an appearance at Sen. Obama's speech in North Carolina Monday.

Photo credit: AP.

CNN=Politics Daily is The Best Political Podcast from the Best Political Team.

(CNN) – It was a split decision - with a substantial win for Sen. Barack Obama and a razor-thin victory for Sen. Hillary Clinton - in the North Carolina and Indiana Democratic primaries.

In the latest episode of CNN=Politics Daily, Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider breaks down exit polling data from Tuesday by age, race, and gender.

Suzanne Malveaux was with the Clinton camp on primary night, and has an inside look at the candidate’s next moves. Will Clinton fight to have the Florida and Michigan delegations seated? How will the New York senator raise the money she needs to continue her battle against Obama and his fundraising juggernaut? What arguments is she readying for her party’s superdelegates? Malveaux has all the answers – straight from sources inside the Clinton campaign.

Despite Clinton’s commitment to soldier on through the remaining contests, the math of the Democratic Party’s proportional pledged delegate allocation is working against her. Chief National Correspondent John King uses CNN’s “Magic Wall” to explain Clinton’s uphill battle to secure the delegates necessary to claim the nomination.

The next Democratic contest is in West Virginia, and CNN’s Jim Acosta is already on the ground there. Acosta takes a look at the demographics and issues in the state before Clinton and Obama face off there.

Finally, in a special post-primary version of his “What if?” series, CNN Special Correspondent Frank Sesno takes a look at what might happen at the Democratic convention if Democrats have not settled on a nominee before the party gathers in August.

Click here to subscribe to CNN=Politics Daily.

Watch CNN Political Researcher Alan Silverleib on Tuesday's exit polls.

(CNN) - Watch CNN Political Research Alan Silverleib as he speaks with CNN.com's Melissa Long and gives a historical perspective to Tuesday's exit polling data.

Schneider: Obama got 36 percent of white voters in North Carolina's Democratic primary.

(CNN) - In this clip, Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider explains the racial break-down of North Carolina voters who supported Sen. Barack Obama in Tuesday's primary.

CNN projects that Obama wins North Carolina primary.

Track county-by-county results here.

Related video: Obama camp: Big victory in N.C.

Watch Bill Schneider on Tuesday night's exit polling data.

(CNN) - Watch CNN Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider break down exit polling data about whether supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton would support Sen. Barack Obama if he wins the Democratic nomination and vice versa.

Watch John King break down different regions of Indiana and North Carolina.

(CNN) – Watch Chief National Correspondent John King use CNN’s Magic Wall to explain how the demographics in certain parts of Indiana and North Carolina may favor Sen. Hillary Clinton or her rival Sen. Barack Obama in Tuesday’s primaries.

Sen. Hillary Clinton makes a campaign stop in Kinston, North Carolina, on Friday

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama stumped for last-minute votes in Indiana and North Carolina Friday ahead of the states' Tuesday primaries.

New polls show Clinton narrowing Obama's lead in North Carolina, once seen as an easy win for Obama.

Polling in Indiana shows the two candidates running dead even.

"We are seeing terrific support all across Indiana and all across North Carolina ... I have no doubt these are going to be tight races. This campaign has been tight throughout," Obama said in Indianapolis, Indiana, Friday morning.

"But I am very confident the American people are looking for the kind of truth telling and serious policy making that is going to have an affect on heir lives, and as long as I'm talking about the issues."

Read the rest of the story

Sen. Obama campaigned in Marion, Indiana Saturday.

ANDERSON, Indiana (CNN) – Sen. Barack Obama flat out denied any possibility that he would accept a debate with rival Sen. Hillary Clinton prior to the next big round of primaries.

Shortly after maintaining he isn't "ducking" debates, the Illinois senator admitted the two Democratic rivals are "not going to have debates between now and Indiana."

Voters in both Indiana and North Carolina will head to the polls May 6.

Obama's comments came in an interview with FOX News' Chris Wallace set to air Sunday. Wallace first asked Obama why he was ducking another one-on-one meeting.

"I'm not ducking one. We've had 21," Obama said. "We want to make sure we're talking to as many folks possible on the ground taking questions from voters."

Clinton has repeatedly called on Obama to meet for another debate since their last meeting in Philadelphia on April 16.

Watch a North Carolina superdelegate explain some of the factors he is considering in deciding between Clinton and Obama.

(CNN) – Even though less than ten Democratic primary contests remain, 308 superdelegates have yet to reveal which of the party’s two remaining major presidential candidates they intend to support. David Parker of North Carolina is one such superdelegate.

“I have changed my mind several times just like the American public seems to be moving around,” Parker told CNN’s John Roberts on American Morning.

Polling results of head-to-head match-ups between Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, and Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will be a factor in Parker’s decision.

“I’m also looking at the impact down-ballot in North Carolina,” Parker said Wednesday. “And, across the South were I think Democrats need to come back."

Although Parker confessed to feeling pressure to make a decision, he also told Roberts that the long Democratic nomination fight is likely good for his party’s eventual nominee – especially if the nominee is Obama.

“Doing a little sparring with Hillary Clinton - who is an incredibly tough competitor and may, in fact, knock him out - is good training for him in the fall,” said Parker. “John McCain is not going to pull any punches and those gloves are going to come off quickly."

Watch Sen. McCaskill's interview with Wolf Blitzer.

(CNN) – Sen. Claire McCaskill, a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama defended Obama’s decision not to participate in a previously scheduled debate in North Carolina.

“What he wants to do is make sure the people of Indiana and North Carolina get a chance to know him,” McCaskill told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Tuesday on The Situation Room. “So, I think he really wants to stay on the ground and make people understand that he gets it.”

Earlier in the broadcast, the Clinton campaign’s communications director, Howard Wolfson, said Obama had cancelled the North Carolina debate because of a poor performance at last week’s debate. “Sen. Obama basically said, boy, I don’t want to debate anymore,” Wolfson told Blitzer.

Indiana and North Carolina will both hold their primaries on May 6.

Related video: Watch Howard Wolfson on the Democratic race

Clinton aides are saying Obama has a major advantage in the state.

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (CNN) – Hillary Clinton's campaign Friday looked to lower expectations for the upcoming North Carolina primary, telling reporters that a Clinton win here on May 6 would be "the biggest upset of the century."

Ace Smith, the campaign's North Carolina state director, told a group of reporters at Wake Forest University that Obama "starts very strong here," an advantage owed to the state's Democratic cocktail of African-American voters and affluent, educated professionals concentrated around the Raleigh-Durham area.

With the heightened attention being paid to the primary, the state's Democratic voter rolls are swelling. Since January 1, nearly 110,000 North Carolinians have signed up to vote as Democrats in the semi-open primary, and nearly 69,000 have signed up as unaffiliated voters, according to the state board of elections.

In addition, more than 19,000 Republicans have switched parties and registered as either Democrat or unaffiliated in order to participate in the contest since the beginning of the year. Over 67,000 new African-American voters in North Carolina have registered over the same time period.

"Our measure of success is knocking this down to single digits," Smith said of the race, estimating that as many as 1.5 million people could vote in the contest, which will award 115 pledged delegates.

Asked if Clinton can win the primary, Smith said, "No, that would be the biggest upset of the century."

Earlier this year, Obama scored overwhelming victories in two bordering states with very similar demographics: South Carolina and Virginia.

Despite that, Smith was optimistic about the role unaffiliated voters – who can take part in the primary along with Democrats – will play in the contest.

He argued that Obama "has lost traction" among independent voters since the nomination fight began. Clinton and Obama ran roughly even among independent voters in the March 4 contests of Texas and Ohio.

Smith, who managed Clinton's operations in California and Texas, said the New York senator is looking to perform well in the eastern and western parts of the state, rural regions with small towns that have seen visits from former president Bill Clinton. The campaign has also run two television ads here.

Smith criticized Obama for hedging on whether or not he will agree to participate in another debate to be hosted in North Carolina, despite pressure from prominent local Democrats like Gov. Mike Easley and former Gov. Jim Hunt.

"He is looking to brush off the state of North Carolina," Smith said of Obama's reluctance to commit to a debate in the state.

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

(CNN) - Rep. Mel Watt, who endorsed Barack Obama Wednesday, said that the current presidential contest reminds him of Harvey Gantt’s Senate bid.

Watt served as campaign manager for the Democrat’s unsuccessful run against the-Sen. Jesse Helms in 1990. He told reporters on a conference call Wednesday that Gantt almost came out on top that year.

"This campaign has some of those same racial dynamics, those same kind of interesting dynamics that don't coincide with every single campaign that we've had," he said.

He added that "to stick our head in the sand and not acknowledge that would be to ignore the obvious." Earlier, Watt had said that he did not think the country was ready for a black president.

He said that he has been surprised at how much Obama has continued to build support as the campaign has progressed, one reason why he changed his mind after earlier stating that he did not think America was ready for a black president.

The congressman said he believed the racial climate had improved since the Gantt-Helms race: “it’s a new day in America,” he said.

(CNN) - Two superdelegates - Reps. David Price and Mel Watt - announced their endorsement of Barack Obama on a conference call in advance of the White House hopeful’s visit to the state tomorrow. Watt had previously backed John Edwards.

Obama now has received endorsements from six North Carolina superdelegates, including party vice chair Dannie Montgomery, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, former Democratic Party director Everett Ward, and former Watt staffer Joyce Brayboy, a lobbyist.

Hillary Clinton has the backing of superdelegate Susan Burgess, a Charlotte city councilwoman.

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a list of 100 North Carolina “Women for Hillary” Tuesday, featuring 98 of the state’s most prominent Democratic women – and two men with gender-neutral names.

North Carolina Public Radio and the Raleigh News and Observer report that Dana Cope - president of the State Employees’ Association of North Carolina – was inadvertently included in the press release of women backing the New York senator.

Also on the list: Ashley Thrift, a Winston-Salem lawyer and chief of staff to former North Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings.

The Clinton campaign told the News and Observer: "We are proud of the broad support Senator Clinton has from women... and men across North Carolina."

(CNN) – Former President Bill Clinton didn’t touch the subject, but the Clinton campaign used his appearances in rural North Carolina Saturday to hammer at Barack Obama’s “bitter” comment on small town voters.

Speaking before Clinton came to the stage Saturday in Winterville, the former chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party laid into Obama’s remarks. Tom Hendrickson told the crowd, “My message to Senator Obama is, we are not frustrated. We are not bitter. We turn to our faith because we believe. Amen. We hunt and fish because it's a part of our culture and we enjoy it. So, Senator Obama, don't pity us and think that we're bitter and frustrated. We're hard working family folks who are smart and we get it.

The Clinton backer said, “We don't need the pundits to tell us what we think. In the words of that old Hank Williams song, 'We're country folks and we will survive.”

The former President left the issue alone in his remarks at Winterville, one of six stops he’s making Saturday in the eastern part of the state.

–CNN's Steve Brusk

Clinton faces a tough fight in North Carolina.

RALEIGH, North Carolina (CNN) – Hillary Clinton is taking her campaign to Tobacco Road for the first time Thursday, scheduling three campaign events in a state her staff sees as “uphill battle.”

Clinton is scheduled to make stops in Raleigh, Fayetteville and Winston-Salem, a campaign swing billed as the kick-off to a six-day “Solutions for the American Economy” tour across several states.

In Raleigh, Clinton will give an economic speech tailored to the issue of job training. She will propose a five-year, $12.5 billion program to make job re-training universally available to displaced workers, provide new Pell grants and support on-the-job training programs.

North Carolina has yet to vote –- 115 delegates are at stake on May 6 -– but it’s a state that’s already become familiar with the presidential race. Barack Obama has campaigned there several times already, as has Bill Clinton, appearing on behalf of his wife.

But North Carolina has been getting a first-hand glimpse of the race throughout this election cycle. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards made his home in Raleigh his campaign headquarters during his presidential campaign. The state is also sandwiched between two states that have already voted, Virginia and South Carolina, exposing parts of North Carolina to TV advertising and news coverage form those two contests.

Virginia and South Carolina were also two states that Obama won handily, largely with support from African-American voters and educated, wealthier whites. In North Carolina, there are similar demographics that do not bode well for Clinton: 45 percent of registered Democrats are black, and the Research Triangle in and around the Raleigh-Durham metro area is stocked with college-educated, affluent voters.

Independent voters can participate in the Democratic primary, but Republicans cannot.

“If you look at the polls, Sen. Obama has the upper hand,” said Clinton spokesman Doug Hattaway. “It’s an uphill battle, but that said, we are fighting on every hill, so to speak.”

Regardless of her chances, Hattaway said Clinton will continue to press her economic message throughout the state, and also utilize North Carolina native Gen. Hugh Shelton, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a Clinton endorser, to appeal to the state’s sizeable military community. Hattaway also said the campaign will open their first state office in Raleigh next week, and will open several more offices soon after. Ace Smith, who engineered Clinton’s wins in California and Texas, is the campaign’s North Carolina state director.

– CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Pennsylvania isn't the only state seeing a surge in newly-minted Democrats. North Carolina, which votes on May 6, has also seen its voter rolls expanding.

Republicans and Independents in Pennsylvania are signing up in droves to vote in the April 22 Democratic primary. Last week alone, more than 29,000 Pennsylvanians registered to vote as Democrats. More than four million Pennsylvanians are now registered as Democrats – a new state record.

Almost 90,000 new voters have signed up to vote in the North Carolina Democratic primary, which is semi-closed - meaning Democrats and unaffiliated voters can participate, but not Republicans.

Since the beginning of January, the number of registered Democrats in North Carolina has grown by over 40,000 voters, bringing the total number of Democrats in the state to 2,552,674. Almost half of those registered Democrats are African-American.

The tally of unaffiliated voters grew by more than 30,000. There are now 1.2 million unaffiliated voters in the state who can participate in either party’s primary.

In the same three month period, the number of registered Republicans increased by a much smaller margin - just 15,000 people - bringing the total amount of GOP voters in the state to just over 1.9 million.

That’s not the only problem for the state Republican party.

A survey released by Pew Research last week showed that 26 percent of North Carolina registered voters now identify themselves as Republicans, down from 35 percent in 2004. The figure for Democrats has remained steady at 39 percent, according to the Pew survey.