Obama Conquers the New South

North Carolina has been a red state since 1976; Obama is turning it blue

The spark for the civil rights movement happened 48 years ago in Greensboro, North Carolina. The state has voted red since 1976 – and it was red until mid-September. Pepe Escobar, reporting from Greensboro and financial center Charlotte, tells how Senator Barack Obama’s campaign has energized voters from a broad spectrum, including blacks, female voters and independents, suburban and exurban, to the point that the state is now turning blue.

On the street in North Carolina this week Pepe Escobar spoke to one man who said, “Everybody’s excited about Obama,” a statement that really exemplifies the mood in N.C.

The Republican Party “Southern Strategy” is not working anymore. This is the new New South, 16 years after Bill Clinton. Obama – a liberal black senator from Chicago – is on the road to carry other southern states, from Virginia to Florida.

Escobar comments, “This is a second silent American revolution,” a sentiment echoed by a local early voter, “Everybody’s hurting, we want change.”

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