Huckabee to join Romney at Asheville rally; Jill Biden coming to NC, too

Two new signs that North Carolina remains a battleground in the presidential race:

• Mike Huckabee will join Mitt Romney at the GOP presidential candidate's Thursday night rally in Asheville. Also on the bill at the 6 p.m. event at the U.S. Cellular Center: country music singer Ronnie Milsap.
• Jill Biden will visit the state Saturday to attend "Women for Obama-Biden" events. No details yet on where in North Carolina she'll be, but her trip will come just two days after her husband, Vice President Joe Biden, debates Romney's running mate, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc.

-- Tim Funk

Celebs say "vote early" in video shot during DNC

A celebrity-filled video shot during the recent Democratic National Convention in Charlotte has been released by Obama's North Carolina campaign.

Its subject: The benefits of early voting, which starts Oct. 18 in North Carolina.

"Gotta Vote" features Eva Longoria, Alexis Bledel, Zach Braff, Aisha Taylor, Elizabeth Banks, Alfre Woodard and Olivia Wilde.

Its intended audience are voter groups President Barack Obama is counting on in November, er, Oct. 18 and beyond. Namely, young people, African Americans and women.

Early voting in North Carolina goes from Oct. 18 to Nov. 3. North Carolinians can go to any early vote location in their county and register and vote at the same time on the same day. Deatils: www,gottavote.com.

Election Day is Nov. 6.

In 2008, Obama carried North Carolina by just 14,000 votes -- a victory margin of  0.3 percent. He became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Obama did it by building up a big lead in early voting. Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate, won among voters who cast their ballots on Election Day in 2008. But his totals weren't enough to catch up with Obama, who won the early vote.

-- Tim Funk

NBC/WSJ Poll: Neck and neck in NC

A new NBC/Wall Street Journal/Marist Poll has good news for Democrat Barack Obama and for Republican Pat McCrory in North Carolina.

The poll, released Friday, shows Obama with the support of 48 percent of likely North Carolina voters to 46 percent for Mitt Romney. It's the latest in a series of polls by the NBC partnership that show Obama leading his Republican opponent in swing states.

In North Carolina, Obama is up by 1.1 points in the Real Clear Politics polling average.

"This was the closest of the battleground states four years ago and it is close again this time," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. "The competitive presidential contest is not, however, spilling over to the race for governor."

The poll shows McCrory leading Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton 52 percent to 39 percent. Jim Morrill

Biden will campaign in Charlotte on Tuesday

Vice President Joe Biden will campaign in Charlotte on Tuesday (Oct. 2), an Obama campaign official said Wednesday.

More details on his itinerary are to come.

Biden's return to North Carolina comes as the race for the state's 15 electoral votes is heating up.

The vice president's stop follows a visit to Durham last week by First Lady Michelle Obama.

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan -- GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's running mate -- also stopped in North Carolina this month.

And this week, two high-profile Republican surrogates -- U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina -- have campaigned for Romney-Ryan in the Tar Heel State.

Both campaigns are also airing new TV ads in the state, where Romney and Democratic President Barack Obama are virtually tied in recent polls.

-- Tim Funk

Pittenger debates Roberts Wednesday

Republican Robert Pittenger and Democrat Jennifer Roberts meet for the first debate of their 9th Congressional District campaign Wednesday afternoon at the Charlotte Chamber.

Both are trying to replace Republican U.S. Rep Sue Myrick in the district's first open-seat election since 1994.

The meeting will be preceded by two legislative debates. Democratic Rep. Martha Alexander and Republican Rob Bryan will face off for the House District 88 seat and Democrat Robin Bradford and Republican Charles Jeter will debate for the newly created seat from District 92.

Jim Morrill

Rubio to promote Romney at Charlotte rally

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio -- one of the GOP's rising stars -- is scheduled to be in Charlotte on Wednesday afternoon (Sept. 26) for a Romney-Ryan "Victory Rally."

The Florida Republican will speak to Mitt Romney supporters at 1:45 p.m. at SteelFab, Inc., 8623 Old Dowd Road, according to an email from the Romney campaign.

Rubio was among those considered by Romney as a running mate. The Cuban-American lawmaker, who introduced Romney at the recent Republican National Convention in Tampa, is also touted as a future presidential candidate.

-- Tim Funk

Chamber CEO talks up Charlotte on TV

Charlotte Chamber CEO has been making television appearances all week talking up the city as the country's fastest growing metropolitan area.



On Fox Business, Morgan said the convention was Charlotte's "debut" and said the city is "doing pretty well economically by this convention."

On C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Morgan described the city's rise into a major financial center and touted the city's manufacturing. When asked about hwether the city had contingency plans for more trouble at Bank of America or Wells Fargo, he praised the two big banks for bringing wealth to the city and said "very little gets done civically" without their taking a lead role.

Beyond that, he said the city continues to diversify its corporate base, though he also said other banks like PNC and BB&T have been increasing their presence in the city.

--Andrew Dunn