Canary in the coal mine in NC-9?

During the Republican Primary for NC-9, hardly a week went by without getting a mailer from the Pittenger Campaign - most of them negative.  Saturday, saw the arrival of the first Pittenger mailer in my mailbox for the General Election.  After spending more of his own money than all but one other candidate in the country I was surprised that it took that long.  Unfortunately, I wasn't surprised that it was another negative add.  While not the offensive "negative" of the primary, this was more the expected "negative" of partisan differentiation.  The piece was about Jennifer Roberts supporting higher energy taxes.

That type of partisan differentiation would seem to make more of a difference if you are concerned about the seat going Democratic and handing the gavel back to Nancy Pelosi, but few are worried about that anymore.  See  "House elections spell a Republican story and victory". That kind of red meat tax issue is the kind of thing you use to get people to vote against someone.  But in a district where you have such a registration advantage, there should be no need to really press that issue.  All you need for victory is for your people to vote for you.

I've got to wonder, why wait until now and why go negative again?  There should be no real contest in this race - right?  At this late date, does the Pittenger Campaign really sense they need to give their people a reason to pull the lever for them?

After a week of early voting, is this mailer a canary in the coal mine for NC-9?

Update: The last paragraph of this story points out a similar dynamic in the Presidential race.  The Two Polls That Have Chicago Terrified - NationalReviewOnline