In eastern North Carolina, the votes are there for the Dems, the question is: can the Dems get the voters to the polls?

In an article from the Los Angeles Times, the real majority in this midterm election may very well be the non-voters. http://tinyurl.com/22uk573  The majority of the non-voters tend to be liberal, poorer and less educated.  From the LA Times: According to an analysis by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, there likely will be more non-voters this year than voters. Indeed, turnout in midterm elections typically is less than 40% of the voting-age population.

Howard Fineman, of the HuffPost, reports that two Democratic consultants have estimated that the Dems could lose as many as 70 House seats, while keeping the Senate by a narrow margin. http://tinyurl.com/25gpczn  The last time any party lost that many seats was back in 1938 under FDR.

All of this, the day after Jon Stewart made a powerful closing speech at the ‘Restore Sanity Rally’ as he said, “when we amplify everything, we heard nothing”.  http://tinyurl.com/28a62pg

How all of this pans out in eastern North Carolina will be anyone’s guess.  Not too many pundits think the Republicans have  much of a chance to take the Senate, but most think Richard Burr is still a “safe Republican” in North Carolina.  Not surprising, as Elaine Marshall was fighting a primary run-off against Cal Cunningham, Burr was adding to his war chest to the tune of $8M dollars.

On the North Carolina House front, G. K. Butterfield continues to be a “safe Dem” against tea party candidate Ashley Woolard.  But,  Renee Ellmers could very well pull an upset against long time Rep. Bob Etheridge from the second District.  Two years ago, Etheridge won by 67% while Obama won D-3 by 53%. 

Ellmers was the tea party favorite for the third District and endorsed by non-other than the “mama bear” herself: Sara Palin. 

Interestingly, Virginia Foxx (5th Dist. NC), a Republican with a war chest of well over 1.2M looks like she’s cruising to another D-5 victory against William Kennedy Jr.  That may not be very surprising, knowing that even in 2008, John McCain took the 5th District by 61% of the votes.

But, if you look at the demographics of North Carolina, the votes are there for the Dems.  As one North Carolina political analyst said last week, “… in 2008 we saw a surge in black voter participation…so we know the votes are out there….” 

But, it’s not just the black vote in North Carolina that surged in 2008.  The Hispanic eligible voters have hit all time highs for the past six years straight.  That is probably one of the most under looked and less reported result of any measurable stat in NC.