Races close in state; 5 percent undecided

Some recent polls indicate that North Carolina is in for some close campaigns this fall.

For starters, a recent poll by Rasmussen Reports found that John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential candidate, was the favorite of 50 percent in a survey of 700 likely North Carolina voters conducted for WRAL-TV. Democratic rival Barack Obama was the choice of 44 percent. Libertarian Bob Barr was not included in the survey.

McCain has been ahead of Obama in polls taken since mid-May, but in some cases he has been ahead by less than the margin of sampling error.

The survey was conducted Wednesday. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In the U.S. Senate race, a recent poll by SurveyUSA for WTVD found that Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole was the choice of 46 percent of those surveyed. Democratic opponent Kay Hagan had 41 percent, and Libertarian Chris Cole had 7 percent. Five percent were undecided.

The poll showed Dole down after several ads by third-party groups attacking her have aired on North Carolina radio and television.

The survey of 655 likely voters had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

Meanwhile, the same SurveyUSA poll found that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue was the favorite of 47 percent of those surveyed. Republican Pat McCrory had 44 percent, and Libertarian Mike Munger had 5 percent. Five percent were undecided.

The Rasmussen Reports poll also shows Perdue ahead, with 51 percent. McCrory had 45 percent. Munger was not included in the poll.

Race down a notch

Chris Cillizza has bumped the U.S. Senate race down a notch.

In his weekly rankings of competitive races, the Washington Post's "Fix" blogger moved the race between Dole and Hagan from ninth to 10th place last week.

"Some Democrats seem to think that beating Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) is simple. It's not," he wrote. "The incumbent (and her campaign team) are savvy -- as evidenced by her television onslaught a few months back that built her a comfortable polling lead. State Sen. Kay Hagan is a good candidate, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is already showing their financial commitment to this contest. But, it's still a very tough road."

He's not there anymore

If you're calling for John Edwards, try another number.

The former North Carolina senator helped get the UNC Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity started to focus on one of his pet issues.

But the center recently changed its after-hours message to discourage callers looking for him.

"Please note: Senator John Edwards is no longer affiliated with this center and cannot be reached at this number," says a woman's voice on the center's voice mail. "Thank you, and we look forward to speaking with you."

Party time

John McCain hosted house parties across North Carolina on Thursday night.

The Republican held about 70 events around the state.

The parties are part of the campaign's effort to sign up voters and organize volunteers.

Those in attendance at the "McCain Nation" events got a chance to hear Cindy McCain speak on a conference call.

Hispanic push

El Pueblo plans to reach out to Hispanic voters.

The longtime Latino advocacy group is one of 25 groups around the country to receive a grant from the National Council of La Raza for voter outreach before the Nov. 4 elections.

"This type of outreach is critical to increasing the influence and strength of this underserved population in this year's, and future, elections," advocacy director Irene Godinez said in a statement. "Our goal is to make sure that everyone in our community who is eligible acts, participates and votes."

El Pueblo is training young workers for registration drives and plans outreach efforts in the coming months, including at La Fiesta del Pueblo on Sept. 6-7 at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

According to the State Board of Elections, slightly less than 1 percent of registered voters were listed as Hispanic as of Aug. 9, although Hispanics made up 6.7 percent of the population in the 2006 Census.