News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

NC Primary importance...

So, the big buzz after Super Tuesday is "Will North Carolina matter for the first time since 1988?" The state's late primary usually keeps the voters from having any influence on nominees. With Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in such a close delegate race, there's talk NC could still be in play and our delegate plate is definitely a decent size.

The key thing to remember is there are still 16 states, some delegate rich, that will vote before any in our state.

As a state political reporter here's my question for the day. If our state matters in the Democratic primary and the candidates come here to campaign and there's a huge turnout, what will that mean for the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races?

A large turnout with voters focused soley on the Presidential race could mean a large contingency of voters that could have a huge impact on the the state races. The big question is whether or not those voters would favor name recognition and would the sex of a candidate matter with these voters. Conventional wisdom would tell you they will be independent voters wanting to make a difference in the Presidential race, but would they inform themselves on the state races or just randomly pick a candidate?

Oh what a fun time for those of us who do this for a living!!!

Most pundits I've talked with today give it a 50/50 shot for our state to matter. This is all the focus of Political Connections Friday night at 6 and Sunday morning at 11 on Political Connections.