Barack Obama stops in Raleigh today, planning to use a populist economic message and a hefty campaign war chest to capture North Carolina's independents, newcomers and Hillary Rodham Clinton voters.

With Clinton out of the race, Obama will be starting his first extended trip as the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee. Supporters said his morning appearance at the N.C. State Fairgrounds will kick off a well-funded test of state Republicans' goal: an eighth straight victory in North Carolina presidential elections.

"Obama has the resources to connect directly with the voters and let them see his message -- on TV, on the radio, on the news," U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, said Sunday. "It's going to be competitive."

Obama had raised $264 million by the end of April, and Republican John McCain $115 million by the end of May, The Associated Press reported.

North Carolina's Republican leaders were at a state convention in Greensboro during the weekend, and calls to party headquarters were not returned. But GOP representatives have predicted that state voters will identify strongly with McCain's national security-oriented message.

"Voters in North Carolina will see Barack Obama for his lack of experience and poor judgment, just as members of his own party have during the primaries," state Republican party leader Linda Daves said in a statement.

"On Election Day, I am confident North Carolina voters will continue a tradition of electing Republican presidents and vote for the candidate most ready to lead our country in the right direction: John McCain."

Kerry Haynie, a Duke University political scientist, said the Obama campaign is looking to North Carolina as part of a national strategy that could strain McCain's resources. The two-week tour will focus on economic issues in an effort to convert voters in once reliable red states.

"They think the purple states are turning Democratic," Haynie said, noting that both North Carolina and Virginia, with their influx of newcomers and independents, are among the targets.

"They may think this is the time to make inroads," Haynie said.

A survey last week by a Democratic group, Public Policy Polling, gave McCain a 43 percent to 40 percent edge over Obama in North Carolina.

"I think he has to speak to the values of North Carolina," said state Rep. Linda Coleman, an Obama backer. "I think he has to let North Carolina know that he has not written it off."

State Rep. Dan Blue, a Democrat, said Obama has to address voter worries about the economy, gas prices, the Iraq war, health care and other issues. Those issues will influence more voters than will Obama's status as the first black presidential candidate of a major party, he said.

"I don't think this campaign is about racial politics," Blue said. "I think this campaign transcends that."

Obama overwhelmingly outran Clinton among black voters in North Carolina's May 6 Democratic primary. And recent national polling has shown that as many as one in five former Clinton supporters may stay home rather than vote for Obama.

But recent endorsements for Obama have come in from moderate Democrats including congressmen Bob Etheridge and Mike McIntyre. And Blue said he thinks all Tar Heel Democrats will come around.

"I believe that the Clinton supporters will be on board," Blue said. "And I don't think it's going to take a good long time for them to be on board."

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