North Carolina Stands for "Non-Consequential"

This headline in the Washington Post this morning greets our travel-addled noggin: "Candidates Narrow Focus to 18 States: Battle Has Begun In Most-Contested Areas of Nation." Bush/Kerry are mainly going after a dozen and a half states. And guess what? North Carolina ain't on that list. All the polls and virtually all the professional handicappers concede North Carolina to the Repubs. So you likely won't see the level of campaigning for the top of the Democratic ticket locally, though the Bowles-Burr match-up for the Senate will generate some enthusiasm, we trust. And Burr's open seat in the House, after the Repubs get done with their Open Form Mud Wrestling event for the nomination, starring Middle-Weight Champ Vicious Virginia, might actually develop into a race WITHOUT a foregone conclusion, depending on who the Dems end up with. Locally, of course, it'll be the County Commissioner races on which the future of civilization will rest.

The local Repub power brokers actually have a bit of a problem, residing in a "safe" Bush state (especially considering the local disenchantment with the Bush deficit, the Bush proposal for changing immigration laws, the Bush Medicare Bill, etc.) ... in that they may have a steep hill to climb in turning out their own voters. They can't automatically count on the "Reagan Democrats" nor on the large percentage of registered Watauga Republicans who are non-native, recent arrivals in the High Country and who actually think for themselves about cultural issues and the environment. We'd like to see any of them work up a froth of enthusiasm for Allen Trivette.