News-Record.com

Thursday's No. 2 editorial.

Barack Obama had good reason Tuesday to say, “Thank you, North Carolina.”

Voters in the state’s Democratic primary gave him a strong and possibly decisive victory over Hillary Clinton.

Will he repeat the line on Nov. 4?

If he does, other Democrats on the ballot might say, “Thank you, Barack Obama.”
The idea that Obama, if he secures his party’s nomination, could carry North Carolina isn’t as far-fetched as it seems considering Republican presidential candidates’ long winning streak here. John McCain, with his military record and appeal to moderates and independents, can do very well in North Carolina, but he’s got a math problem. More than three times as many people voted in the Democratic presidential primary Tuesday as in the Republican contest. How will McCain make up that difference? Even winning half of Hillary Clinton’s supporters won’t do it. He’ll also need to add an overwhelming majority of the likely general election voters who skipped the primaries.

Kay Hagan, the Democrats’ U.S. Senate candidate against Elizabeth Dole, expressed confidence in her party’s standard-bearer. “I’ll be running with the Democratic nominee,” she said Tuesday night.

North Carolina Democrats ran away from some past presidential candidates, including Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, John Kerry. If Obama heads the ticket, they’ll stick as close as they can to him because, unlike those others, he’s already shown he can draw North Carolina voters to the polls.

Tuesday’s primary mattered in the Democratic presidential nomination process. It also should be important enough to both parties in November for the candidates to put it on their campaign schedules.

Who ends up thanking whom will depend on whose voters turn out.