North Carolina is closely divided on the presidential race.

According to a new poll by Opinion Research Corp. of battleground states for CNN and Time magazine, Republican John McCain had 48 percent and Democrat Barack Obama had 47 percent.

Three percent said neither and one percent said other. Voters who were unsure were asked to say who they were more likely to vote for.

"But other polls in the state suggest McCain has a larger lead, and when averaged in a new CNN poll of polls out Wednesday, McCain has a 10-point lead," CNN writes. 

When third-party candidates were included in the question, McCain had 46, Obama 45, two percent selected Libertarian Bob Barr, two percent Ralph Nader and one percent Green Party candidate Cynthia McKinney. 

Only Barr would be on the North Carolina ballot in November.

The poll of 910 registered voters was taken Sept. 14-16. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. 

Elizabeth Edwards argues Hillary "hatred" will motivate Republicans.

In an interview with Time magazine, the wife of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said that Republican dislike of Sen. Hillary Clinton will drive GOP turnout in the 2008 election if she is the Democratic presidential nominee.

"I don't know where it comes from. I don't begin to understand it. But you can't pretend it doesn't exist, and it will energize the Republican base,"  she said.

"Their nominee won't energize them, Bush won't, but Hillary as the nominee will. It's hard for John to talk about, but it's the reality," she added.