Today's Washington Post outlines the story of Hillary Clinton making a major play for North Carolina in the hopes that her renewed momentum will bring her within single digits of Barack Obama in North Carolina. She's going to pull out all the stops on this one.
The Washington Post article goes into further detail about her campaign strategy in North Carolina. She's using veterans to bolster her perceived strength as a 'commander-in-chief' as seen in the excerpt below:
Standing with a group of military supporters, including North Carolina native and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hugh Shelton, Clinton said at a stop here that "I am going to win the war in Afghanistan and end the war in Iraq."
If Clinton wins in Indiana and is able to score an upset, or even lose by a small margin, in North Carolina, her comeback would probably gain fresh momentum. A lopsided Clinton loss would essentially negate any recent gains she has made in delegates, in the nationwide popular vote and in persuading superdelegates to support her.
"This is an uphill climb. To win here would be the upset of the century," said Averell "Ace" Smith, director of Clinton's North Carolina campaign.
Craig Schirmer, who is managing Obama's campaign here, said, "It's a competitive state, and I think it's a state that will grow more competitive in the next two weeks and probably be decided in the single digits."
The last line, bolded, is rather telling. This explains the current Clinton strategy of using her $10 million dollars, the Pennsylvania win, and her closing in the polls (especially with undecideds), to make Barack Obama look unelectable. It's a strategy that we've been hearing the media repeating ad infinitum, like the dutiful stenographers they are, in the press.
Clinton aides said their strategy, as in other states, will be to try to dominate in rural areas and perform well among women in the state's three large urban areas, around Raleigh, Charlotte and Winston-Salem, which are likely to lean toward Obama.
Aside from blunting momentum, a loss in North Carolina, the nation's 10th-largest state, would weaken Clinton's argument that she dominates the big states.
Clinton advisers are publicly playing down any chance of victory, but political observers in North Carolina point to several signs of an aggressive effort. To manage her campaign in the state, Clinton installed Smith, one of her top operatives, who led victories in California and Texas. The day after the Pennsylvania primary, former president Bill Clinton made several stops in small communities in the state.
"He's their top primary manager," Trippi said of Smith. "They didn't send Ace Smith if they weren't going to try to compete."
We may lose North Carolina in addition to Indiana. Even though recent polls have Obama leading there, the large number of undecideds in those polls will shift to Clinton's way, thus giving her a possible win of 3% to 5% in the end. You know what we have to do, guys?
WE HAVE TO MAKE PHONE CALLS TO NORTH CAROLINA AND TO INDIANAAS WELL!!!!!
This may be our chance to put away Clinton for once and for all. So let's fucking do it, guys!