Re: Buncombe for Barack

Proctor — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:38:32 -0400

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign did well in two important mountain counties, winning Buncombe (Asheville) and Watauga (Boone).

But hat's off to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign for sweeping the rest of the Western N.C. region, including the Blue Ridge Northwest with such counties as Stokes, Surry, Alleghany and Ashe; the Western Piedmont, with such urban corridor counties as Caldwell, Catawba, Burke and Iredell; and the Smoky Mountain far western counties between Asheville and the Tennessee and Georgia lines.

These primary campaigns make for some interesting studies in the state's political geography although nowadays, the larger urban counties of the Piedmont are having a greater voice in the ultimate outcome of statewide primary and general elections than they did, say, a quarter of a century ago. In "the old days," you could win handily in a number of Piedmont counties and still lose statewide against strong "Down East" or "mountain" voting trends the other way. This can still happen in general elections today if front-running candidates fail to get out to the other sections of the state to meet the voters and hear their concerns.

In the Republican primary for governor, the West also went its own way, so to speak, as did much of the East, as State Sen. Fred Smith of Johnston County swept the heart of Western and Eastern North Carolina, winning nearly two-thirds of the state's 100 counties. Obviously, GOP nominee Pat McCrory's campaign will be calling upon Smith to help bring those Eastern and Western N.C. counties into the Republican column, but Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beverly Perdue will also have a strong case to make in appealing to voters in those regions to look favorably upon her candidacy for a four-year stay in the big house on Blount Street.

David McKnight

Re: Buncombe for Barack

FFC1304 — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:28:52 -0400

Carol Peterson is a lieberal joke. Totally INcompetent to even vote.

Buncombe for Barack

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:10:19 -0400

Many uncommitted superdelegates have been swayed by the primary.

For elected officials, especially, the vote in their district or their state can be a pretty hard argument to overlook, since they will face those voters again.

So it's worth noting that uncommitted superdelegate Carol Peterson is a Buncombe County commissioner.

Buncombe went for Barack Obama, 55 to 44 percent.

Peterson told ABC News 13 in Asheville on Election Night that she wasn't ready to declare and may wait until the Democratic convention.

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Re: Buncombe for Barack

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Buncombe for Barack