Media Matters and North Carolina

I also made a statement that I thought N. Carolina would still be a red state come November. Of course, I am not a newsman, just a guy with an opinion and some free time to share.

However, CNN is arguably a news network, and Media Matters takes CNN to task for claiming North Carolina is not in play.

While CNN reporters and pundits were presuming to tell viewers what people were "thinking" and "believe," they neglected to mention recent polling that shows North Carolina is very much in play. A June Research 2000/Raleigh News & Observer/WRAL/WUNC poll showed President Bush leading Kerry by just five points, by 47 percent to 42 percent (and by six percentage points in a three-way race including Ralph Nader.) The poll's margin of error was 4 percent. Further suggesting that Edwards may help Kerry win North Carolina, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported on May 18 -- under the headline "N.C. could swing left if Edwards on ticket" -- that, with Edwards on the Democratic ticket, North Carolina "would be a tossup." And on the March 4 edition of CNN's Inside Politics, Robert Novak said of Edwards, "[T]here's one poll that shows him beating George Bush in North Carolina and that's a good ticket to come to the table with if he wants to be vice president."