How is it that North Carolina has become a toss up / blue state the past few years?

[Quixote1818]

I have always thought of NC as being very red so to see Obama win the state and to see him up there again by a few points has me wondering what occurred there in the last 5 to 10 years to cause it to be toss up / blue?

On the other hand why has W. Virginia become a red state when it use to be a reliable blue state?

[brooklynite]

1. West Virginia IS a Blue State...it is not a LIBERAL state.

All of West Virginia's state-wide offices are held by Democrats, and its two US Senators are Democrats. They are conservative or centrist Democrats however; liberal candidates (Gore, Kerry, Obama) are not going to be successful. Moderate Democrats (Humphry, Carter, Clinton) have never had a problem there.

[HiPointDem]

2. obama gore & kerry are more liberal than clinton carter and humphrey? not seeing the big

dividing line.

[southernyankeebelle]

3. Obama is not a liberal. He is more moderate then anything.

[Quixote1818]

4. I was thinking the same thing. nt

[Vincardog]

5. +1

[tblue]

10. Conservative on deportations, drone strikes, surveillance, and deep-water oil drilling,

for instance. Guy, it's so sad.

[Lasher]

20. And his economic ideology is more like Reagan than FDR.

He is a New Democrat and a neoliberal.

[southernyankeebelle]

32. LOL, cheer up. We could still get Mittens and his Bush neoncons back.

[Lasher]

45. I'll bet Romney and the neocons would have us in Afghanistan for at least another decade.

US to defend Afghanistan for decade after drawdown

By Rob Taylor

KABUL | Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:21pm EDT

(Reuters) - Afghanistan and the United States on Sunday agreed on a draft of a long-awaited deal that will define the scope and nature of a U.S. presence in the country for up to a decade after the pullout of most NATO combat troops in 2014.

The U.S. Ambassador to Kabul, Ryan Crocker, and Afghan national security adviser, Rangin Spanta, initialed copies of the agreement, paving the way for President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, to review it.

"After much hard work together, we are pleased that we are close to completing negotiations on (the) Strategic Partnership," a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Kabul told Reuters.

-snip-

The deal, under negotiation now for more than nine months, comes at a time when relations between Washington and Kabul remain badly strained by a number of incidents involving U.S. soldiers that have infuriated public opinion.

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/22/us-afghanistan-agreement-idUSBRE83L07S20120422

[southernyankeebelle]

46. Yep especially since they all are the same ones that worked for Bush.

[Fawke Em]

6. The Research Triangle is

bringing in very educated and liberal thinkers.

Add that into the fact that nearly all cities (in the South and everywhere) are "blue," then you've added that 2 to 10 percent most Southern states need to turn blue.

Edited to add: If only the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga were to vote in statewide and national elections, Tennessee would be a blue state, for example.

[DCBob]

12. Charlotte is too.

Charlotte is growing fast and is very youthful and educated. NC is changing for sure.

[Egalitarian Thug]

26. Bingo! n/t

[XemaSab]

47. Raleigh is a very happening city

The three major universities and the state capitol don't hurt at all.

[tblue]

7. Hmmm. Found this article on NC's changing demographics:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republicans-brace-for-tough-2012-fight-against-obama-in-unlikely-place--nc/2011/05/20/AGi7lzEH_print.html

"The dynamics in North Carolina that worry Republicans — a booming minority population, an influx of more moderate voters and a changing set of priorities...."

Good for North Carolina! The South may rise again (but it's not your father's South).

[Quixote1818]

24. Thanks for the link. nt

[The Magistrate]

8. Always Follow Your Civil War History, Sir

The mountain regions of that state were pretty Federal, there were even recruiting attempts there. There were some executions of North Carolinians captured from Federal service. It is not quite a twin of South Carolina....

[NCarolinawoman]

19. We were the last of the Southern states to get involved in the Civil War....

...and that was said to have happened very begrudgingly.

[grantcart]

21. North Carolina and Virginia were reluctant and slow to join the rebellion.

[Lasher]

27. Most West Virginia Civil War soldiers probably fought for the Union.

...from 25,000 to 45,000 West Virginians fought in the Civil War, about 80 percent for the Union and about 20 percent for the Confederacy. More recent estimates place the number of Union soldiers at no more than 60 percent and Confederates at about 40 percent.

http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/414

But I'm not sure what your point is, except to show that the history of these two states is dissimilar. West Virginia does have a Democratic Congressional majority, Governor, and State Legislature. But sadly, we are indeed trending red.

[The Magistrate]

29. Ancestors Of Mine Came From there, Sir, And Indeed Fought For the Union

It is simply a long range observation, that nowadays the ebb and flow of Democratic voting strength in Confederate states can often be matched to maps of stages in the campaigns of that war.

Knowledge of where there were concentrations of copperheads in Northern states can also be useful.

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."

[obamanut2012]

35. NC was dragged into the Civil War by the rich planters on the East Coast

NC was quite poor, and much of the state was very, very rural, even frontier. Not many slave holders east of what is now Fayetteville. There was (and is) a very large Quaker population, and the Underground Railroad was very active there.

There was MUCH resentment on the part of the "smallfolks" for being made to fight, and have their crops and livestock taken by the CSA.

[JoePhilly]

9. A few reasons for NC ...

The first is the University System.

UNC is pretty liberal (Chapel Hill is too). Same for many of the UNC schools, like UNC-Greensboro.

Wake county, surrounding Raleigh, is turning blue.

Charlotte has a pretty liberal, or at least left leaning population.

Asheville is also pretty liberal.

Greensboro also has some pockets of blue.

No idea about W. Virginia.

[tledford]

18. Yup, Kerry carried Guilford County (Greensboro) in 2004. eom

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. education has strange impacts on voters. They start to think.

[former9thward]

34. How do states go back and forth?

Do people lose their education?

[melm00se]

13. one of my neighbors

made a joke when I first move down here:

"NC is a catch and release state. If you find a native North Carolinian, slap a band on his leg and let him go"

the NC population has changed quite a bit since I moved here over 13 years ago. the days of Dale Earnhardt caps/t-shirts/bumper stickers has given way to more Obama stickers.

Northerners have moved down here and brought with them ideas and attitudes on what are traditional red state values and transplanted them here and residents are beginning to like what they see.

[Populist_Prole]

14. Happy to be a transplanted carpetbagger

Was a Republican when I moved down here. I'm not now.

[jeff47]

15. The state dun growed.

NC's much less rural/agricultural than it used to be. Charlotte's all about banking, and the Raleigh area has a lot of high-tech R&D.

And you have to keep in mind Mitt is really the personification of the slimy, carpet-bagging yankee. That's not gonna play well with the natives.

Some Democrats in state office a few decades ago realized that mostly growing tobacco and pigs was going to not be viable for the state in the long run. So they started making efforts to attract other kinds of business. The scale of the efforts were sufficient to change the economy of the state. And the change was enormous - Charlotte's only behind New York City in banking, for example.

And keep in mind when saying "Democrats in state office" in NC, you are also covering people who are more Dixiecrat than traditional northern Democrat.

The state's efforts to attract business attracted a lot of people from outside the state, drastically changing the character of it's cities. It's actually kind of jarring to drive out of the cities, because there's such huge difference in how the rural and urban folks live in NC, despite the geographic proximity.

[Yavin4]

16. The University of North Carolina

Show me a state with world class public universities, and I will show you a state that is either blue or bordering on blue.

Look at the Pacific west coast. Look at Colorado. Look at Virginia. Look at the Midwest states. Look at Pennsylvania. Look at New Mexico.

[NCarolinawoman]

25. NC State's Veterinarian School is now ranked #3 in the country.

Right behind the Ivy-Leaguers, Penn and Cornell.

Also, their engineering program is deeply involved in renewable energy research and developing new plans for hybrid cars.

Their school of architecture works with the engineering department in the planning of green energy buildings

North Carolina State, just like UNC, is of course, another publicly funded university.

[rox63]

17. Quite a few northern liberals are retiring to NC

for the better climate. And as others have said, they have a growing tech and research sector that is attracting people from all over the country.

[obamanut2012]

37. I wouldn't give them the credit -- homegrown Tarheels have changed the state

They deserve the credit.

[KamaAina]

22. People moving in

the Raleigh suburb of Cary is known locally as the "Containment Area for Relocated Yankees".

[grantcart]

23. For the same reason that AZ has become a toss up - migration.

It is an ironic by product of pro growth strategies. You will eventually end up inviting a lot of people that don't agree with your politics.

[Lasher]

28. Three of the reasons West Virginia has been trending red:

Gays, guns and God. And the our traitor Dixiecrats still think they can get rich by giving more money to rich people.

Most of our elected representatives are still Democrats, but some of them act a hell of a lot like Republicans.

[CRK7376]

30. Unfortunately for me, many of you

do not live in my RED western NC area. I have to deal with Virginia Foxx BS. All but one of my neighbors are deeply, thoroughly RED, they shudder at the thought two liberal famiies are amongst them. Then my state is also in the last days of the fight against gay marriage; the Amendment One fight. part of me is very optimistic that the Amendment will fail, but then the reality of where I live, tells me that it will probably pass and NC will be shamed again as a discriminatory state. I cast my absentee ballot weeks ago specifically voting against Amendment One!.....

[obamanut2012]

38. Don't forget the Asheville and Boone area

As well as a few other pockets in WNC.

[RobertEarl]

31. Education

NC has one of the strongest education systems. And know that republicans here are de-funding that system. The number of students is growing but the budget has been cut.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

33. Here are my observations

I have lived in NC since 1987, with a 5-year interlude in NYC. I have lived in rural NC, urban NC during the college years, and coastal NC since 2007.

1. Migration - the cost of living is exceptionally appealing to people from the northeast (especially NY, NJ, MD, MA) and the weather is mostly good, especially by the ocean (hurricanes are not as frequent as people think) - a NYer or NJer whose humble abode may cost upwards of $400K in NY or NJ will find that the same amount just about buys a mansion down here and there is little to no snow to plow.

2. Education - while rural NC still lags behind, especially at the public school levels K-12, the universities and colleges are excellent. I am lucky enough to have gone to two of the big three in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hell (I mean... Hill). NC State is an excellent facility for engineering, architecture, veterinary, textiles and the sciences. Duke is one of the top universities in the nation. Though its student population is small (about 10,000 or so), its students hail from all states and many foreign countries. Its medical center is one of the best in the nation and, of course, it has Cameron Indoor Stadium, one of the best places to catch college hoops. Yes, there's also that place in Chapel Hill. And don't forget Wake Forest University, Davidson College, all the other UNC schools (UNC-Wilmington excels in a few fields including creative writing and marine biology) and the myriad others.

3. Investment in R&D - way back in the 1970s, a few pioneering NC minds envisioned a high tech corridor between Raleigh and Durham that would be appetizing for start-ups and multinationals alike, dedicated to technology, science, research and pharmaceuticals, bolstered by the excellent universities in the area. Companies like Nortel, IBM, Glaxo, SAS, etc. moved in and now Research Triangle Park is the hotbed of what's new and upcoming.

4. Progress - I've seen a subtle change in the beliefs that North Carolinians hold. While some troglodytes do survive (witness the Marriage Amendment 'For' forces), even native NCers are slowly progressing toward more inclusionary and progressive ideals. Part of this slow change is also due to the death of industries that thrived on lower-skilled and less educated labor such as textiles. As people have had to gain more knowledge to thrive in the new NC, so they have acquired a bit more progressive outlook. Now, this is a slow change, but it has definitely moved forward since my arrival in 1987.

I can't speak for W. Va. though.

[Quixote1818]

40. So hopefully it will become solid blue in another 5 to 10 years

Would that be your guess? They are saying New Mexico is no longer a swing state but a solid blue state. States like Texas and Georgia could end up blue states in the future too. Similar trends to NC.

[obamanut2012]

36. Quite a bit of the state is blue, and even purple

[Butterbean]

39. I personally believe it is because of the big academic presence combined with the tech

presence. I live in RDU and am happy as a clam. I think, in THIS area, at least, it has a lot to do with the influence of Duke/UNC/NC State (basketball fanatics everywhere are having a collective conniption that I put those three together in a sentence like that without disparaging any of them) and the tech sector in Research Triangle.

[MountainLaurel]

41. I think reverse immigration is part of WV's issue

I know a lot of native WVans who left in their 20s because they wanted to get away from the Guns, Gays, and God trifecta. They went to college because they saw their family members die from coal mining and its related issues, but then couldn't find a job in which they could use that education or found their lives taking them in a different direction. Or they were gay or nonbelievers who had to leave in order to live their lives honestly and/or safely. Or simply they had an interest in the world outside their county.

Ironically, a lot of those folks went to NC.

[Starry Messenger]

42. North Carolina has a strong labor tradition.

I think a lot of activism and sweat equity on the part of unions and community partners should get the credit.

[obamanut2012]

43. One of the most famous organizers was Crystal Lee Sutton aka Norma Rae

A "linthead" from Burlington, NC, who braved a lot to unionize the textile workers in a Roanoke Rapids, NC, J.P. Stevens plant.

The movie would have been entitled "Crystal lee," but she had a fallout with the movie folks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Lee_Sutton

"Sutton was earning $2.65 an hour folding towels. The poor working conditions she and her fellow employees suffered compelled her to join forces with Eli Zivkovich, a union organizer, and attempt to unionize the J.P. Stevens employees. “Management and others treated me as if I had leprosy,” she stated.

She received threats and was finally fired from her job. But before she left, she took one final stand, filmed verbatim in the 1979 film Norma Rae. “I took a piece of cardboard and wrote the word UNION on it in big letters, got up on my work table, and slowly turned it around. The workers started cutting their machines off and giving me the victory sign. All of a sudden the plant was very quiet…” [2] Sutton was physically removed from the plant by police, but the result of her actions was staggering. The Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union won the right to represent the workers at the plant on August 28, 1974. Sutton later became a paid organizer for the ACTWU. Sutton was the 13th recipient of the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award in 1980. The honor was named after a 1963 encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), by Pope John XXIII, that calls upon all people of good will to secure peace among all nations."

<snip>

[Starry Messenger]

44. Those fights with J.P. Stevens are incredible.

http://www.laboreducator.org/stevens.htm

Even after getting the union, it took years to get the company to work with labor.

Real Life vs. Reel Life

Actually, the Stevens workers didn't get the fruits of their victory — a contract — until six years later. The company stopped resisting the union only after ACTWU (the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers, formed by the 1976 merger with the smaller TWUA) made Stevens the target of the first corporate campaign by organized labor.

Today, the abuses of corporate power are multiplying as rapidly as the lists of lawless acts by Stevens back in the '60 and '70s. Community, public interest, environmental and religious groups, as well as labor unions, want to challenge irresponsible corporate behavior. How to do this, and greatly increase the chances of success, will be the subject of this column in The Labor Educator.

The J.P. Stevens Corporate Campaign, which I directed for ACTWU, was not the only reason for the happy ending that occurred with labor's victory over Stevens in 1980. But it did provide irrefutable evidence that there are methods other than long and costly traditional strikes and boycotts to challenge powerful institutions and force them to behave responsibly.