With Democrat Barack Obama continuing to run strong in North Carolina, the campaign of Republican John McCain is ramping up its efforts here.

Next week both McCain and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin are expected to campaign here, Rob Christensen reports.

Although nothing has been announced, McCain is likely to make his first general election appearance in the state on Saturday, Oct. 18th. The most likely location is Hickory — although Charlotte and Wilmington had also been discussed.

The event would be designed to rally the state GOP's western base.

Palin will attend a fund raiser next Thursday at the Greensboro home of the McCain-Palin finance chairman, businessman Louis DeJoy. She is also likely to have a public rally. The McCain-Palin campaign is looking strongly at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh.

North Carolina has been a traditionally Republican leaning state in presidential politics, but the Obama campaign has made it into a battleground. The McCain campaign is picking up the pace in recent days in effort to keep the state red.

In recent days, Warren Tompkins, a respected Republican operative in South Carolina and a protege of the late Lee Atwater, has been surveying North Carolina for the McCain campaign to determine what can be done to shore up the state.