The Jefferson-Jackson Dinner hasn't been this exciting in 20 years.
The Democratic Party's annual fundraiser has been going since 1930, attracting such notable guests as Vice President Lyndon Johnson in 1963.
But it's not been as big a deal as it will be tomorrow since the last time North Carolina's presidential primary was meaningful in 1988.
That year, 2,000 Democrats gathered at the N.C. State Fairgrounds to hear from three of the five active presidential candidates: Al Gore, Gary Hart and Jesse Jackson. (Note to younger readers: The dinner is not named for him.)
Michael Dukakis and Dick Gephardt, the other two candidates that year, did not attend.
According to a New York Times account of the evening by Tar Heel native Tom Wicker, "Gore backers made the most noise, though the Senator's speech did not much rouse the audience."
Gore won North Carolina on that year's Super Tuesday, but lost the nomination to Dukakis.
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