RSS FeedThe N.C. Center for Voter Education distributes its biweekly syndicated column every other Monday to newspapers across the state as a free public service.
If you would like to receive this syndicated column for publication in your newspaper, please contact Bryan Warner, director of communications, at 1-877-258-6837 or by email at .
'Super PAC' Could Shape the Race for N.C. Supreme Court
The introduction of judicial PACs is troubling because it threatens the independence of the court and runs counter to the current system we have in place to elect judges. (Read)
A Look at this Year's Legislative Session
It has been a historic two years as Republicans wielded control of the state House and Senate for the first time in more than a century after rising to power in the 2010 elections. (Read)
N.C. Voters Can Take a Trip to the Polls this Month
You might not know it, but North Carolina has an election coming up in a couple of weeks – July 17 to be precise. That is the date of a runoff vote following the May 8 primary. (Read)
Column archives:
Covering politics in North Carolina and beyond, VoterRadio.com is streaming 24 hours a day. Listen live or on-demand.
NCCVE Syndicated Column
Since 2001, the N.C. Center for Voter Education has delivered an inside look into politics in North Carolina and beyond with its biweekly syndicated column, published in newspapers across the state.
Look for the column in your local newspaper, read it online here or subscribe to The Voter Update E-Newsletter to receive the column right in your email inbox.
Resize Text
Political Spotlight Shines Brightly On N.C.
By Brent Laurenz
Published: Aug. 27, 2012
RALEIGH - When it comes to national politics, Florida is a bit like the homecoming king or queen -- popular every year and used to getting all of the attention.
So with the Republican National Convention rolling into town, we can expect the Sunshine State to not wither in the spotlight or get overwhelmed by all of the attention. After all, with the 2000 election Florida has probably had more attention than most states would care to have when it comes to politics.
North Carolina, on the other hand, is a little more like the transfer student that quietly ended up becoming one of the more popular kids in school. For decades we were passed over when the presidential election came around with Republicans knowing our electoral votes were already in their column and Democrats not even trying, unless their nominee was a Southern governor from a bordering state (i.e., Jimmy Carter).
Now things have changed. And as a sign of the times, next week the Democratic National Convention will be held in Charlotte to officially renominate President Barack Obama, who carried North Carolina by a scant 14,000 votes in 2008 -- the first Democrat to win here since Carter in 1976.
The entire political world will be watching the events in Charlotte during that first week in September, but what exactly does it signify to have a major-party convention inside our borders? First and foremost, it marks our official entrance into the pantheon of battleground states.
Judging by North Carolina’s fast-growing population and rapid influx of voters from across the country, it looks like we better get used to our role as a swing state. A recent survey from Public Policy Polling shows that new residents to the state overwhelmingly favor Obama, but the natives and old-timers favor Romney.
Looking at the stats and reading those polls, it’s not hard to figure out that our electoral votes might be up for grabs for the foreseeable future. Which brings us back to the Democratic National Convention. Not only does it signal that North Carolina is a swing state this year, it also points to a strategy by the Democrats to break the Republican dominance in the South.
Charlotte was chosen over three other finalists -- Cleveland, Minneapolis and St. Louis -- that included two classic swing states and the most reliably Democratic state at the presidential level in recent history.
That a Southern city won out over three Midwestern towns points to the growing importance of not just North Carolina, but perhaps to the region as well. It may be a long time before South Carolina or Alabama ever end up in the swing state column. But North Carolina and Virginia seem poised to be there for a while and we all know Florida is a perennial battleground state.
So when the lights go up in Charlotte at the Time Warner Cable Arena, I’m confident North Carolina will rise to the occasion and prove to the political world that we’re not only an important battleground state, but a great state as well.
And who knows, maybe in 2016 Raleigh will have its turn at hosting the Republican National Convention to nominate Romney for a second term or former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan to take on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.