Guest post by Scan
Associated Press
And it feels like that wind is at Hillary’s back .
Just days before the North Carolina primary, the Democratic presidential contest in this state is suddenly alive with a fresh air of competition, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton seeks to capitalize on a controversy that polls suggest has whittled away some of Senator Barack Obama’s support among white voters.
…Not long ago, Mr. Obama was perceived to hold such an advantage that some Democrats here wondered whether Mrs. Clinton would bother to compete vigorously. But the candidates intensified their efforts in the final weekend — both appeared here on Friday evening — and Mr. Obama was eyeing a return on the eve of the election.
…Many voters in the state were just beginning to turn their attention to the Democratic primary at the very moment Mr. Obama’s glow was dimming. Tuning in to their televisions, they saw a candidate who bristled his way through a debate last month in Pennsylvania and, more recently, an incessant repetition of incendiary statements by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., with whom Mr. Obama has now broken.
Indeed, this is what I’ve been hearing in other reports, seeing in new polling numbers, and reading on the boards of this blog. Not long ago, hardly anyone thought Hillary could win North Carolina. That now seems within the realm of possibility, though just keeping it close would be a huge victory, especially with a solid win in Indiana.
Jerry Meek, chairman of the state Democratic Party, credits the tightening in the race to the Wright contretemps as well as the Clinton family’s three-way march across North Carolina. “They’ve reached out to groups of people who are not used to being reached out to by presidential candidates,” said Mr. Meek, who is remaining neutral in the race.
The whole Clinton family marching across North Carolina for Hillary. That’s a great image isn't it?
You can tell the Clinton camp is feeling confident about Tuesday from the press release that came out today:
Three months ago the Obama campaign produced a spreadsheet that, with one exception, has accurately predicted the winners in each of the upcoming primaries and caucuses. Tellingly, that spreadsheet predicted an Obama victory in Indiana by 7 points, as well as an Obama victory in North Carolina.
Does the Obama campaign still stand by that prediction? If not, why not, and what has happened?
A lot has happened. And something even bigger just might happen this Tuesday… the game changer, according to Hillary:
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