The North Carolina primary is Tuesday, and voters will be deciding who they want for their Democratic and Republican presidential nominees. This year, the election is being held earlier than in the past (March rather than May), in an attempt to be more influential on the national stage.
Bethany Chafin spoke with Ken Rudin, host of Ken Rudin's Political Junkie radio program and podcast and former political editor at NPR.
He says moving the election date has strengthened North Carolina's place in the national political landscape. However, many will be watching other states on Tuesday.
Interview Highlights
On where the attention will be Tuesday:
"[The NC primary is] happening on the same day as the Ohio and Florida primaries and of course, on the Republican side everybody is paying attention to see whether Marco Rubio can win Florida, John Kasich could win his home state of Ohio. So in that sense, the attention may be elsewhere. But having said that, North Carolina has a lot of delegates. It looks like, if the two parties are trying to tear down or stop their frontrunners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, North Carolina doesn't look like the state that's going to stop these two frontrunners."
On polls and how voters are using them this election season:
"There are so many people who rely more on polls than on on-the-ground reporting, because we saw what happened in Michigan when every poll had Hillary Clinton with at least a 20-point lead over Bernie Sanders, and yet Bernie Sanders won by a 50-48 margin. You could say it's a great upset, it's exciting, it shows that anything could happen. It also could discourage a lot of supporters on both sides. If you're a Bernie Sanders supporter and you're down by 20 points, why show up? If you're a Hillary Clinton supporter and you're up by 20 points, well is my vote needed?"
On whether voter confusion over redistricting and the new voter ID law will affect turnout:
"Obviously the Afrcian-American community, the Democratic party are very concerned about this. They claim the Republican party is pushing through these laws to supress black turnout. There are some people that are not convinced this is the case. There's a lot of emotion there, there's a lot of anger there. How much of an effect it will have on the primary, I'm not convinced."
On whether North Carolina is up for grabs in the general election:
"There is no question that when it comes to the general election, North Carolina may be one of the top 5, top 7 states in the country. Clearly a swing state. Look no further than 2008 when Barack Obama won the state and then 2012 when he lost it to Mitt Romney. So, there's no question that the Republicans have their eyes on North Carolina knowing that the Democrats can win the Tar Heel state."
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