Raleigh News & Observer poll. 6/13-16. MoE 4%. (No trend lines.)
Bush 47
Kerry 42
Bush 46
Kerry 40
Nader 4
55 percent of respondents also believe Edwards should be veep.
The divide would narrow further if Kerry selects Sen. John Edwards as his running mate, according to the survey, conducted June 13-16 for a partnership of The News & Observer, WRAL-TV and WUNC radio.
"Kerry doesn't have to win North Carolina to win the presidency. Everybody knows that. Bush knows that," said Del Ali of Research 2000, the Maryland polling firm that conducted the survey. "But by taking Edwards on the ticket, it really does force Bush to spend time in an area that, frankly, he can't afford to spend time in."
Republicans and Democrats alike agreed Monday that the numbers are unusually close for North Carolina, which hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since Jimmy Carter in 1976. Four years ago, Bush beat Democrat Al Gore 56 percent to 43 percent.
While the article says that the race would be closer with an Edwards veep, the article doesn't include those numbers.