South Carolina's influential early primary is planned for late January, so Obama and his campaign staffers urged the 4,000 supporters at an afternoon rally at N.C. Central University to make the short drive south of the border. They need North Carolinians to wave signs, make phone calls and do whatever else they can to push the candidate's message across the Palmetto State.

"You don't want to be against something; you want to be for something," Obama said. "You want to feel it's still possible for everyone to rally around a common purpose."

Campaign organizers say Obama must have success in South Carolina, where a poll released Thursday showed he trailed Sen. Hillary Clinton by more than 10 points, to have any shot at the Democratic nomination.

"Ultimately, the national campaign is looking for assistance from North Carolina to help Obama win South Carolina," said Paulette Hill, communications director for Triangle for Obama, the local campaign. "They see North Carolina as a strong border state."

Count Justin McKenzie in. McKenzie, 21, is an N.C. State senior from Durham who volunteered at Thursday's rally, greeting people who came while wearing a blue "Obama '08" T-shirt.

"I think I do like Barack Obama enough that I think I'd go see him in South Carolina, or Virginia, or east Tennessee," he said. "I like his story."

A tough row to hoe

McKenzie's commitment represented a small victory for Obama on Thursday as he visited a state in which he appears to face steep obstacles in the May primary. The $514,000 he has raised here is about one-quarter of what native son John Edwards has raised in the Tar Heel state, and Obama ran third in a recent poll of likely Democratic primary voters, drawing just 20 percent of the support. Hillary Clinton registered 32 percent in that poll -- conducted by Raleigh's Public Policy Polling -- and Edwards got 31 percent.

"He has the home-grown Edwards and the force that is Clinton," said Brent Woodcox, communications director for the N.C. Republican Party. "So it would be tough for him to win in North Carolina."

Obama's North Carolina tour stop Thursday also included an evening fundraiser at a private home in Raleigh, where $500 got you through the door but $2,300 bought more intimate access to the candidate.

Nationally, Obama has been a fundraising machine. The $79 million he has raised trails only Clinton among all presidential candidates, and his supporters and some political analysts speak of an Obama "buzz."

Even though the state routinely votes Republican in presidential elections, it makes sense for Obama to spend time in North Carolina, said David Rohde, a Duke University political scientist. Obama is black and, should he win the Democratic nomination, he may be able to spark the African-American voting base, Rohde said.

"Having a black candidate at the top could change the previous pattern, so it behooves him to campaign here," Rohde said.

Woodcox, the Republican Party spokesman, doesn't buy it.

"North Carolina voters have been rejecting liberal presidential candidates for some time now, and I think they will continue to do so, even if it's a liberal politician wrapped in new rhetoric."

At Thursday's rally, which was moved from a 2,100-seat gymnasium to the adjacent football field because of brisk ticket sales, Obama wore a white shirt, a blue tie and a broad smile as he spent 45 minutes hammering at the Bush administration. He made plenty of promises. He promised health care reform, higher pay for teachers, more affordable higher education, a change to the nation's energy policy and the swift removal of troops from Iraq.

And he got some laughs alluding to a recent revelation that he and Vice President Dick Cheney are eighth cousins.

"You know, everybody's got a black sheep in the family," Obama said. "Everybody has a crazy uncle in the attic. I'm not going on that family hunting trip anytime soon."

At N.C. Central University -- a historically black public university -- Obama is popular. He is seen as a fresh face who brings some youthful vigor to the debate, said Tomasi Larry, NCCU's student body president. "Race plays a part," Larry said. "But people look past that. It's his politics and what he stands for. He's a charismatic person."

McKenzie, the N.C. State senior, was one of many who liked Obama for what he doesn't represent: politics as usual.

"Out of all the politicians, he's the least political," he said. "He seems like a real person and that's refreshing."

Obama took no questions from media, except for three from Hadassah Jones, age 5. The Durham youngster reports for a children's show called Brand Newz and charmed her way into the brief interview after Thursday's rally. She grilled the Illinois senator in part on health care and the economy. One question: "How do you help people buy houses if they're a lot of money?"

"He got down on the ground and actually answered the questions," Hadassah's mother, Michelle Gonzales, recounted soon after. "She had an exclusive."

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