North Carolina moves in CNN Electoral Map
(CNN) - CNN Monday turned the important battleground state of North Carolina from "lean Romney" to true "toss up" on its Electoral Map, following the release of a new CNN/Time Magazine/ORC International poll that indicated the race for the state's 15 electoral votes was a dead heat.
The move by CNN comes one week before the Democratic convention kicks off in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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The poll, released earlier on Monday, indicates it's all knotted up in the Tar Heel state, with 48% of likely voters supporting Republican challenger Mitt Romney and 47% backing President Barack Obama.
Other polls from other organizations conducted earlier this summer also indicated a close contest in North Carolina.
"It's hard to imagine the perfect storm that helped then Sen. Obama narrowly carry the state in 2008. But at the moment the polling shows a tossup, and both campaigns say their numbers are in the same ballpark as our survey," says CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. "That, plus all the attention Democrats are about to give the state, gives us ample reason to move North Carolina to tossup."
"It's a must win for Romney, and even top Obama aides privately say it is a lot harder to see it going blue this time. But Romney can't take it for granted and the poll backs up what we see in the recent ad wars in North Carolina: It's a tight battleground," adds King.
Obama was the first Democrat to carry the state in a presidential election since 1976.
North Carolina now becomes the ninth state CNN considers a true toss up, joining Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. CNN considers Michigan, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania as states that lean towards Obama, with Arizona, Indiana, and Missouri as states that lean towards Romney.
With North Carolina's move to true "toss up," the CNN Electoral Map now suggests Obama leading in states with a combined 237 electoral votes, Romney ahead in states with a combined 191 electoral votes, and states with 110 electoral votes are up for grabs. Two-hundred and seventy electoral votes are needed with win the White House.
- CNN's Political Editor Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Obama 2012–Romney 1040. Pass it on!
I saw the campaign material for Romney/Ryan '12...then I read the positions and I realized they thought the election was in 1912, not 2012. Apparently the Gilded Age is still alive and well in their minds. Pretty soon they'll be asking to reverse women's suffrage.
Good thing (for Democrats) Romney picked Ryan...
Everryone I know wants to give Obama his walking papers....
Even my Black friends call him an Uncle Tom.
Im here in Pittsburgh, Pa another swing state, and we are a major blue collar city. Where many of our jobs have been outsourced. Due to companies like bain. Trust me Pa will go to Obama again! News outlets and these polls are full of poop! This election will be a win for OBAMA big time.
We have a lot of illiterates in this country, Sashatree. Anyone voting for a republican is voting against his/her own best interests, provided they are poor, sick, or middle class. So, there could be no other reason why anyone in these categories would vote gop other than .. illiteracy.
put a legend on your map
A vote for either Romney or Obama is a vote for zero change. The Republicans and Democrats are only interested in the power of their party, not the issues we face as a country. Vote for Gary Johnson this time around, if you don't like the results we can go back to the old way.
There could be no reason why anyone would vote GOP except ... illiteracy. Any member of the poor, the sick, the middle class or the elderly who would vote republican would simply have to be an illiterate, there's just no other reason why someone would vote against his / her own best interests.
People wanna blame Obama for the mess we're in, but it was a republican president and congress that got us here and they're preaching the same strategies! Not to mention, the house has fought Obama tooth & nail for the past 2 yrs, partisanship is to blame, not the President. Maybe Obama isn't perfect, but I've seen where the GOP got us and no thank you!
Almost every comment I've seen on here is exactly what's wrong with politics, and the individuals who put faith their party like a religion. The truth is, the candidates are not that different.
You can listen to the media, pundits and other politicians try and play up differences between the two, but truth be told – nothing drastic is changing. It doesn't matter whether there's a republican or democrat sitting in the White House.
The only thing parties and their small (in the grand scheme, they are) serve to do is divide the people. This is perfect for politicians, because they then divide and conquer.
Maybe we should be speaking with CNN supervisors?
North Carolina was never GOP leaning . . . toss up status is a huge shift for the Republicans
I agree, women should be able to kill their unborn children.
When Mittens shows his tax returns for more than 2 years he'll be credible....until then, not! Just another crooked rich Republican! Obama/ Biden 2012
Yeap, I guess that's what we'll have to be doing.
See Obama's America 2016!! Make up your OWN mind!!
How sad that in 2010 the republican party ran on JOBS JOBS JOBS and once they got in – guess what no t one of them voted on the jobs bill. All they did was sign a pact to vote no on anything President Obama wanted – that's how they spent the last nearly 2 years. Not working for the citizens – just working against Obama. Their lack of principles as an American citizen is showing. The terrible disease of avarice has consumed them.
Less than 3 months before he packs and go home ... .Let's make Osama a 1 term president
As a woman, I fully support actual women's healthcare and rights for women. But what I see as true healthcare and rights might not be the same as your definition. As an Independent, I will be voting Republican this year.
I said back in November that the GOP has no chance since even then we knew Romney was the nominee. And the Mormonism hasn't even come up yet. I really think this ridiculous continuous flub on women's issues is laughable at this point.
Say what they want about Aiken, its a GOPer saying what we claimed they believed for years. And that's gonna stick. Now the legislation from the VP nominee doing the same thing. What Aiken said about the reproductive shutdown was dumb but that isn't the issue like all the GOP is saying. The issue was making ANY distinction between rape. Every woman I know doesn't think there is a difference between any rape, even if by the husband. Its the violent act of domination.
These guys really are idiots, yeah you have a small % of women who will agree for devout religious reasons but its still telling a woman what to do with her body. Its the heavy hand of government in a place much much worse than your poketbook, business or your health insurance. They literally in two weeks have made the economy a non issue, especially since the massive majority still blame the GOP for bad economy and talk about not running on their record, can you name anything that positively affected your life that the GOP has done since they got the House back? Anything? What are they running on?
I wouldn't vote for Obama with a gun to my head. With his record I fail to see how ANY sane person could vote for him. He has destroyed this lovely country of ours in four years. What will he do if he gets another four?
dang. You can easily hear the Obama bashers here sounding like the absolutely uneducated and ignorant, hateful people that they are. There's like very little substance in those posts–just 'liberal, socialist' etc etc ... Shamefully moronic slaves.
Romney should be prepared for a lot of people to slide toward Obama. He's been avoiding issues that people care about, like the tax returns. He doesn't live by rules different than the rest of us, even though he thinks he does.
I can't stand Romney and Ryan, especially Ryan. What a buffoon. Any female that would vote for these jerks doesn't have a bit of sense.