mike easley=the roy barnes of 2004?

[WalterMitty]

the incumbent that cant be beat?  the shining star of southern democrats?  the incumbent that will coast to reeelcection while setting his sights on national office?

well, we all know how it turned out for barnes.  and i sense a little arrogance and complacency in the easley camp.

ballantine is going to be a tough challenger.  the easley people better wake up.  

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Barnes also had the contentious Confederate flag issue to derail him.  Absent something similar, I can't see Easley being tripped up by surprise.  I can't think of any NC issue taht would have similar impact.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Maybe... it'll be closer than Easley would have liked (the GOP isn't running an inept candidate this time round), but what happend in GA last election was just *weird*... a GOP perfect storm really...

[WalterMitty]

if ballantine wasnt so underfunded, hed be a serious competitor.

easley must campaign.  he cant rely on just tv ads this time.  ballantine is out-hustling him on the campaign trail and making inroads with voters (particularly in the east)

easley isnt as popular as the media claims.  his tax increases were very unpopular.  his popularity has rebounded since the dark day of 01/02,  but he has lukewarm support.  jim hunt was a popular governor. and...well... mike easley is no jim hunt.

i voted for easley in 2000.  ive decided to vote for ballantine this time around.  im confident ballantine has the ability to get more former easley voters like myself.

[snelson77]

I've been watching the TV ads start to pick up but I think Ballentine was slowed by the Republican runoff against *yawn* Richard Vinroot...he's behind the ball and it's all uphill against Easley. I'll concede that it will be a close election, but I find it hard to believe that Ballentine has enough to pull it out...

[ATFFL]

I've been watching the TV ads start to pick up but I think Ballentine was slowed by the Republican runoff against *yawn* Richard Vinroot...he's behind the ball and it's all uphill against Easley. I'll concede that it will be a close election, but I find it hard to believe that Ballentine has enough to pull it out...

Actually, there was no runoff against Vinroot, Vinroot dropped out to allow Ballantine to save money to focus on Easley.

The reason for the delay, in my opinion, was to save money and decide on teh focus of the campaign.  Smart move to make sure you know what direction you are going to go before starting.

[hoshie]

Easley has started to run ads blasting Ballentine on his economic record. I have seen the ads here in Havelock about once or twice. Personally I don't know who I will vote for. I've been in and out Wilmington for a while now and have come to respect Ballentine a lot. However I find the new highway usage tax to be outragous.

Time will tell who I decide to pull the lever for.

[Ben.]

Easley looks like he'll be fine he's polling 54%, while Ballantine only at 39%... at the same time the senate contest is still leaning to the Democrats with Bowles polling at 50% to Burr's 40%.