North Carolina in play for the Democrats? Yes indeed Barack Obama has pulled dead even with John McCain in the Tar Heel state according to the latest Rasmussen survey. From Rasmussen:

It’s all tied in North Carolina.

The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 48% of Tar Heel voters prefer Barack Obama while an identical number favor John McCain. One percent (1%) say they’ll vote for Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, and three percent (3%) remain undecided. …

McCain leads 61% to 37% among Evangelical Christians. He also leads by eight percentage points among other Protestant voters while Catholics are evenly divided. Obama leads 67% to 29% among all other voters statewide. The Democrat leads by seven among women but trails by 11 among men.

The precision strikes of the Obama campaign have McCain scrambling in areas that should be locked down already. McCain was campaigning in North Carolina this week, indicative of Republican panic that this State may go Democratic.

The financial muscle of the Obama campaign is now telling the story. In North Carolina the edge has been huge. From the website of North Carolina TV Station WRAL:

Democrat Barack Obama is spending more money in North Carolina than Republican John McCain, according to a study by the University of Wisconsin.

The university analyzed political ads from across the country. For the week spanning Sept. 28 – Oct. 4 the study showed McCain’s camp spent $148,000 in the state compared to Obama’s $1.23 million.

Now that is what I call a financial edge. And it has been effectively spent, with the Obama ad posted here a really hard hitting piece perfectly tailored to North Carolina. This ad, for my money, is one of the best ads of this campaign season. I do not know if Obama will prevail in N.C., but he certainly has disrupted the McCain ability to fight this battle on Democratic turf. And the Obama push here and in other red states is having a positive effect on downticket Democratic candidates, creating a bit of panic amongst rank and file Republicans fearful of being washed away in the tide.

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