Obama will ?ght to win North Carolina voters

President Barack Obama enchanted the nation with his platform of hope and change in 2008, winning traditionally conservative states such as North Carolina.

Now, with the 2012 presidential campaign in full swing, Obama is expected to make frequent trips to North Carolina to secure the support of voters who helped him win the state in the last election.

Mitch Kokai, communications director of the John Locke Foundation, said Obama will need to have a visible presence in the state to win again.

The president spoke at N.C. State last week about his job creation proposals, and Vice President Joe Biden attended a fundraiser in Chapel Hill the following day.

“As long as we keep seeing Obama and his top officials coming to N.C., they feel that the state is eminently winnable and needs to be won,” Kokai said.

In 2008, Obama edged Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., by just 14,000 votes, becoming the first Democrat to win the state in a presidential election since President Jimmy Carter in 1976.

But Jason Roberts, an associate professor of political science at UNC, said in an email that the state’s economic woes will pose a challenge for Obama’s re-election.

The unemployment rate in the state is currently 10.4 percent, which is 1.3 percentage points higher than the national average.

“If unemployment remains as high as it is now, he will need to try to convince voters that his plan for improving the economy is better than that of his opponent,” Roberts said. “This is difficult to do, but in principle can be accomplished.”

Obama tied Rick Perry, one of the leading Republican presidential candidates, with an approval rating of 46 percent among state voters in the latest poll conducted by Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning think tank.

Brandon Hartness, state and national affairs chairman for UNC College Republicans, said the same voters who elected Obama in 2008 won’t necessarily back his candidacy next year.

“In 2012, these same people will overwhelmingly reject the president and his policies.”

Renee Sullender, vice president of UNC Young Democrats, said Obama must fight to gain the support of middle-class voters.

Fergus Hodgson, director of fiscal policy studies at the John Lock Foundation said because many of Obama’s campaign promises haven’t materialized, his integrity is vulnerable to attacks.

“Among independents in particular, the economy and employment appear to be the leading issues — so if those turn around, Obama will be in a much stronger position to win North Carolina,” he said in an email.

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