With Strong Move to Romney North Carolina's Moment in the Spotlight Ends

On 10/18 North Carolina moved to the "leans Romney" category in the RealClearPolitics.com Electoral College projections effectively bringing to an end the Tarheel State's moment in the national political spotlight.   Its original "Firewall in Ruins", national attention will move elsewhere as the Obama Campaign redraws its lines of defense around more traditional Democratic Party strongholds including the union heavy states of Ohio and Nevada.  Punctuating these events, the Romney Campaign is now reportedly pulling senior campaign workers out of NC to carry the battle for the Presidency to states needing more support.

It's a rather ignominious end to a political season which started with such high hopes - one where Charlotte hosted the DNC enjoying some global attention only to have the host committee end up millions in debt and the State's ultimate impact on the election relegated to being a footnote of election history - it being the state that put the Romney-Ryan ticket into the lead in the RCP Electoral College projections for the first time.

Of course, that factoid will only be important if there is ultimately a Republican win.  Less than three weeks until we all find out.