After Kerry named Sen. John Edwards as his running mate, it really appeared that North Carolina was in play.  Not only did Edwards add the North Carolina connection, but the state had been hit hard by outsourcing in the textile and manufacturing sectors.  Kerry seemed to be doing well among veterans, who form a significant group in the state; according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs more than 767,000 veterans live in the North Carolina.  The Democrats had also received significant exposure earlier in the year from the presidential primary in neighboring South Carolina.  This generated free media statewide as well as bleedover in the Western part of the state from all the primary advertising.  In short Democrats thought they could win North Carolina.  The theory was if they could stay within five points through October, Edwards could visit frequently to seal the deal.  Then came the Swift Boat ads.  "Once that hit we were doomed," said a Democratic operative who worked on the campaign in North Carolina.  "We couldn't recover."  Not only did the ads hurt among the veterans; but convincing them the war was a mistake and called for a change in leadership was a difficult task.  "People didn't want to hear that the war was wrong," said the Democratic staffer.
 

Bush-Cheney '04	Kerry-Edwards 2004
Organization details...	details...
BC'04 Exec. Director: Jonathan Felts  Republican Party of North Carolina State Chair: Ferrell Blount Chief of Staff: Bill Peaslee	KE State Director: Morgan Jackson Coordinated Campaign Director: Jessica Vanden Berg North Carolina Democratic Party State Chair: Barbara Allen Exec. Director: Scott Falmlen

Travel

BUSH-CHENEY	KERRY-EDWARDS

Newspaper Endorsements

BUSH The Enterprise-Record [Mocksville]

KERRY News & Observer [Raleigh]  (10/24/04)  Asheville Citizen Times  (10/24/04)  Daily Advance [Elizabeth City]  (10/24/04) >  The Pilot [Southern Pines]  (10/20/04)  Charlotte Observer  (10/17/04)  Greenville Daily Reflector  (10/17/04)  Star-News [Wilmington]  News & Record [Greensboro]

Third Party and Independent
Ballot Access
Nader.  North Carolina is one of the most difficult states for ballot access.  To gain status as an Independent candidate Nader needed to submit 99,439 valid signatures by July 20, 2004, or he could have created a new party and collected 51,904 valid signatures by June 10, 2004.  The campaign did not succeed.  It did submit the required 500 signatures to ensure that its write in votes were counted.
 

Coordinators
Nader - Simon Demory.  University of North Carolina, Charlotte campus coordinator - Kristin Rothrock.
 
 

More Visits
NADER
March 25, 2004-Speaks at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.  (Nader spoke of forming Populist Party.  The visit was part of a tour of states with difficult ballot access requirements).

BADNARIK
July 3, 2004-Fundraising dinner with gubernatorial candidate Barbara Howe at Café Parizade in Durham.
July 4, 2004-With Barbara Howe, speaks at "Second Amendment/Free Speech Rally for Independence Day" at Mace Sporting Goods in Mebane.
 
 

Copyright ©  2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.

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