lpetrich
Contributor
Democrats Hope Georgia Will Become The Next Virginia, But It Could End Up Being The Next North Carolina | FiveThirtyEight
Though Obama won in 2008, he did not win a big victory. He was only 0.32% ahead of John McCain, and he had only 49.7% of the vote. He then lost in 2012 by 2.04%, Hillary lost in 2016 by 3.66%, and Biden by 1.34%.
That happened reliably in CO and VA, but not in NC.When Colorado, North Carolina and Virginia flipped to the Democratic side in the 2008 presidential election, it seemed like the start of a long-lasting shift. A Democratic Party increasingly synonymous with people of color, college graduates and urbanites appeared destined to win in states with growing, well-educated, racially diverse metropolises like Charlotte, Denver, the Raleigh-Durham area and the northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C.
“North Carolina is still shifting from a predominantly rural, native-born state into a more urban/suburban state filled with more outsiders,” said Manzo. “There is a real undercurrent in political discussions both within the North Carolina General Assembly and in campaigns about appealing to the ‘true’ North Carolinians … Most of this election cycle the Republican message was essentially that Democrats don’t understand North Carolina and North Carolinian values, especially Democrats who have worked in DC.”
Though Obama won in 2008, he did not win a big victory. He was only 0.32% ahead of John McCain, and he had only 49.7% of the vote. He then lost in 2012 by 2.04%, Hillary lost in 2016 by 3.66%, and Biden by 1.34%.