RALEIGH -- Three years ago, Reynolds Coliseum, the legendary basketball barn, was the scene of one of Barack Obama's greatest political triumphs.
It was at Reynolds where Obama celebrated his decisive North Carolina 2008 primary victory over Hillary Clinton, thereby all but clinching the Democratic presidential nomination and ending the Clinton political dynasty.
After North Carolina, Hillary Clinton was - as The New York Post headline succinctly put it - "toast."
On Wednesday, Obama returned to Reynolds hoping to earn a Bill Clinton nickname - the Comeback Kid.
Obama has been struggling at the polls recently both nationally and in North Carolina. His approval rating in North Carolina is 43 percent, and his disapproval rating is 53 percent - his worst standing here since the Republican sweep in last year's mid-term elections, according to a recent survey by Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-leaning firm based in Raleigh.
The slippage in his numbers is related to the state's continuing high unemployment rate, which at 10.1 percent is a full point higher than the national average.
Obama came to N.C. State University to plug his $447 billion jobs programs, asking citizens to contact their members of Congress to ask them to support it.
The event had more of a feel of a political rally - from a cheering crowd of 9,300 to a pep band. Instead of a banner with the 2008 campaign slogans "Change" or "Hope," there was a banner that said "Americans Job Act." About the only thing missing was the word "re-elect."
Obama even used some campaign-style question and response lines.
"North Carolina, this comes down to what our priorities are," Obama said. "Do you want to keep tax loopholes for oil companies?"
"Noooo," responded the audience, which contained many college-age young people, a group Obama depended on in 2008 and which he must mobilize again next year if he is to be successful.
"Or do you want to renovate more schools and rebuild more roads and bridges so construction workers have jobs again?"
The crowd applauded.
Since introducing his jobs programs to Congress, Obama has taken his message mainly into battleground states - Virginia, Ohio and now North Carolina. This led Republicans to charge that the president's campaign for jobs was more about politics than about building support for policy.
Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, called Obama the "campaigner in chief" who is stumping for re-election on the taxpayer's tab.
"He has already been to Virginia and Ohio," Priebus said. "It's interesting that he's not going to Montana and Idaho. This president is only choosing battleground states to bring his jobs plan to the American people. ... He is in love with the sound of his own voice. He is in love with campaigning."
Both sides regard North Carolina as a key state in the 2012 presidential race. Republican strategists say it is difficult to see how they can win back the White House without carrying North Carolina, which every GOP presidential candidate carried between Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Obama in 2008. But Obama carried the state by only 14,000 votes, and it would not take much to tip it one way or the other.
The Republicans acknowledge taking the state for granted in 2008, while Obama made a huge investment in North Carolina - first in his primary victory in May and continuing through the summer and into the general election. By the time the Republicans caught on, they were playing catch-up.
But for Republicans, there is a danger of history repeating itself. The GOP presidential candidates are now focused on winning such early GOP primary states as New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida. The Democrats may have North Carolina to themselves again - at least for the next six months.
Visiting North Carolina
Wednesday was the president's second trip to the Triangle in three months - and he was met with not only a large, enthusiastic crowd at N.C. State University, but friendly crowds lining Western Boulevard and other streets.
Vice President Joe Biden will be in Raleigh this morning for a high-dollar fundraiser at a private residence. After Hurricane Irene hit the state, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsak were quickly on the scene.
Last week, the Democrats held a rally in Charlotte to mark one year before they hold their national convention there - an event that will create an enormous amount of attention and involve thousands of volunteers next year. The Obama organization already has offices up and running in Raleigh and Charlotte.
So far, the Republican campaign is being run by remote control - largely a TV campaign featuring ads criticizing Obama's handling of the economy. The Republican National Committee has run television ads as has Crossroads GPS, an independent organization with ties to GOP strategist Karl Rove.
On Wednesday, stopped motorists on Interstate 40 got out of their cars to gawk at the passing of a presidential motorcade. Fourteen months from now, such motorcades - involving presidential candidates or their running mates - may draw yawns.
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