ANOTHER INDICATOR OF OBAMA TROUBLE – AT 11:08 A.M. ET:  North Carolina suddenly became a shining city on the hill during the 2008 election – at least for Democrats.  Obama took the traditionally Republican state.  What a difference a year and half makes, as the L.A. Times points out:

Asheville, N.C  After falling in love with this Blue Ridge Mountain city on the campaign trail, the White House said, President Barack Obama was eager to return for a weekend getaway.

But the erosion of Obama's support in North Carolina — a critical swing state that he captured by the slimmest of margins in 2008 — may have made this weekend's holiday here an even easier call.

Obama is visiting a state that he won by 3/10 of a percentage point, the first Democrat to take North Carolina in a presidential election since 1976.

But now the state is anxious about rising deficits and the federal government's activist posture, political analysts said. North Carolina's unemployment reached 11.2% in February, one point higher than in the recession of the early 1980s. The sour economy has turned voters against incumbent politicians, Obama included.

His overall approval rating in North Carolina is just 46%, with 50% disapproving of his performance as president. The numbers are worse among independents, with nearly two-thirds unhappy about the job he has done, according to a survey conducted this month by Public Policy Polling.

"People are in a bad mood," said Gary Pearce, a North Carolina Democratic political consultant. "People like Obama personally. They want him to succeed. They're just not happy with where the country is right now."

COMMENT:  I love the "they want him to succeed" line.  Who doesn't want the president to succeed?  And of course they "like Obama personally."

Hey fella, it ain't about that.  It's about jobs.  It's about foreign policy.  The little stuff.

North Carolina voting is heavily influenced by a large African-American population and a huge army of university-based Northern aggressors.  Those are the Obama legions, and they seem to be weakening in the fight. 

April 24, 2010