Just a few months ago, it would have been practically unimaginable that the major contenders for the White House would affix their gazes to the Tar Heel State, and their shoeleather to its small towns and big cities. But that's exactly what happened in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's presidential primary. North Carolina, whose primary election had been thought to come too late to carry any weight, was a wallflower in national politics no more. It was on the floor in the big dance.

Barack Obama's victory in the Democratic contest was big for his campaign against Hillary Clinton, of course, as the front-runner tries to achieve the necessary momentum to claim the nomination for his own. And Arizona Sen. John McCain, presumptive Republican nominee, campaigned here as well, signaling that he believes this state may be "in play" come November. In other words, that his party's 30-year-plus hold on North Carolina's presidential voters may be at risk.

Not even the A-students of Tar Heel politics would have thought that the Democratic nomination battle of 2008 would have come down to an African-American and a woman, and that those candidates would stir such passion among supporters, such interest, such turnout, such increases in voter registration. Yet these precedent-shattering candidates, locked in a tight race, elevated the election from an afterthought to major prominence.

But what was most important about this primary and all that led up to it is that North Carolina voters had a chance to exert true influence by making their concerns, their priorities, their troubles -- their issues, in other words -- known to candidates in a personal way. That can make a genuine difference as the campaign in the fall shapes up, with candidates trying to determine what positions will hit home with average citizens.

What those people told Obama and Clinton and McCain was how they experienced the uncertainty, the fear even, in the future of their health care, and of their jobs. They told them about the toll gasoline prices are taking on their family finances. They talked about shaky mortgages, about concerns for their children's economic stability as they enter the workforce. And yes, they talked about President Bush's long, costly war in Iraq and the frustrating effort to root out the terrorists who lurk in Afghanistan, Pakistan and elsewhere in that region.

Are these thoughts shared by their fellow citizens, from Maine to California? They are -- and it's important that those who seek to lead this nation understand its people and hear their words, not just the strategic whispers of consultants who are as removed from ordinary folks as are, unfortunately, too many politicians.

This has been a breathtaking election season in many ways. Republicans saw a broad array of candidates, with the one thought to be finished early emerging as the standard-bearer. Democrats are still battling, but the fight has generated ideas about the economy and health care and Iraq and the environment that will invigorate the fall election, perhaps leading to clear dialogues and sharp distinctions. The enthusiasm evident here has been seen elsewhere all over the United States. For voters, including new voters and young voters, to be passionately interested in the presidential race, no matter what side they're on, is good for America.

And North Carolinians may rightly say that this year, they had an important part to play.