Barack Obama is losing ground in North Carolina.

The Democratic presidential candidate was once figured to do well here, but three recent public opinion polls show Hillary Clinton closing the gap.

Raleigh's Public Policy Polling found his one-time lead of 25 points had decreased to 12. A SurveyUSA poll shows him ahead by 5, and Rasmussen Reports has his lead at 14.

Most of the loss has been among white voters, which voters attribute to the recent flare-up over Rev. Jeremiah Wright. 

"The more Obama becomes a black candidate or the candidate of blacks, the more support that we see falling off among some segments of the white population," said Duke University politics professor Kerry Haynie.

Ace Smith, Clinton's state director, said she still has an uphill battle. (N&O) 

John Edwards' populism is not necessarily new.

During a discussion on WUNC's "The State of Things" today, N&O reporter Rob Christensen argued that Edwards' previous campaigns for U.S. Senate and president had populist strains as well.

"In his Senate campaign, he ran against the big health-insurance companies and the HMOs up in New Haven, Conn., making all the decisions, not you and your doctor. That's populism in a way," he said.

Christensen pointed out that North Carolina also has a history of populism, with the label fitting Gov. Kerr Scott and U.S. Sens. Marion Butler and Robert Reynolds. That's not surprising, he argued, given that it's long been a state of "relatively modest tobacco farmers and textile workers."

Duke University professor Kerry Haynie said Edwards' discussion of poverty was risky because it implicitly brings up difficult issues of race as well.