Dear TV news talking head:

Welcome to North Carolina! We're not used to seeing your kind around here, especially during presidential election years. Heck, the last time North Carolina was a "battleground state" was April of 1865 — when General Sherman's troops came through!

By now, you can confidently rattle off the names of crucial neighborhoods in Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia with ease, but you may be a little nervous talking about North Carolina. To help you along this election season, we've come up with a quick list of talking points:

RED STATE: North Carolina is typically a red state when it comes to presidential politics. The last time we went for a Democrat was Jimmy Carter in 1976. (To drive this point home, you can remind people that Sen. Jesse Helms was from here.)

PRIMARY FIGHT: This state was crucial in the primary battle between Obama and Hillary Clinton. Obama won the state and, by some accounts, ended Clinton's hopes for a comeback. The primary also left him with a network of supporters here.

ISSUES: With several military bases and a growing Hispanic population, Iraq and immigration once looked like big issues. But these days, it's all about the economy and jobs. The sale of Wachovia and ongoing discontent with free trade are a major factor.

NICKNAMES: Officially, this is "The Old North State." (It's even our state song, though you'd be hard pressed to find someone who knows it.) You'll probably be better off referring to it by our unofficial nickname, The Tar Heel State. (That's two words: Tar Heel.)

TRIVIA: We have 15 electors. We claim Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk and Andrew Johnson as natives, though all three were elected from Tennessee. Two of our recent senators — Elizabeth Dole and John Edwards — ran for president. 

Oh, and there's no such place as Raleigh-Durham. They are two separate cities. (You may be confused because of Winston-Salem or the fact that our airport has that name.)

We hope that helps and we look forward to seeing you soon — maybe in 2012?

— Under the Dome