Who's a "Real State?"

Obama is closing in on McCain in traditionally Republican states like North Carolina. After--ahem--certain comments about Northern Virginia not being "real" enough, I think Pfotenhauer will have to admit that there's a new reality in the South:

“Somewhere, former conservative icon Senator Jesse Helms must be turning over in his grave at the prospect of Obama winning North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes,” James Bennett, the managing editor of the local newspaper, The Independent Tribune, wrote after Mr. McCain’s visit. “The Republican stronghold that elected Helms to five terms in the Senate no longer exists.”

That's not to say Obama's necessarily going to win North Carolina. But it's going to be a lot tougher than I'm sure the McCain team anticipated.