Rain in North Carolina today- will it hurt or help?

[auburngrad82]

The rain will mostly cover the eastern half of the state, which is predominantly Republican. Wilmington probably would lean Dem so it could hurt there. Raleigh is experiencing a nice steady rain as we speak but the three polling places I drove by on my way to work had long lines and full parking lots and the polls hadn't even opened at that point!

The western half of the state will be clear. That means Charlotte and Asheville will be nice today. The rest of the west is solidly Republican, but at least we will pull the major cities. And since it's total votes that count we should be good in North Carolina.

In my office at least 70% of the people are voting Obama. Since we have a policy against political soliciting I haven't been able to talk to everyone so it could be even higher. Also, most of my people have already voted. Those that haven't have been approved to come in a little late or to leave a little early.

This is going to be a long day...

[taterguy]

1. It'll help with the drought

[GOTV]

2. Generally, larger turnout helps us. Here in NE Ohio ....

... it's supposed to be unseasonably warm and sunny. That should help Ohio go a bit bluer.

[sweettater]

3. Like myself

many have early voted! :bounce:

[bigdarryl]

4. just carry a damn rain coat or unbrella JEZ!!!!!

[mmonk]

5. We have a quarter of a million vote lead. Depends on how

determined McCain voters will be.

[nygrl224]

6. If they can't stand in the rain

then they obviously don't care.. I mean get a raincoat or umbrella, it's not that big a deal.

[whitewomenforobama]

7. If you can,

you might consider picking up some cheapie umbrellas and tarps, and taking them down to polling locations, especially if you know some that are predominantly Democrat. You'd have to appear completely nonpartisan about it, but it might help a few stick out the rain who might otherwise go home.

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

8. Normally it might hurt...

but not this time. There's a lot of passion. To some people, this is like a part of the civil rights movement...like the Selma march. No amount of rain will deter these folks (not all of whom are African American, of course). At least that's the way I feel about it. To get me to not vote today they'd have to pry my cold dead hands from the voting booth. Nope, I don't think a little water will hurt us...not this time.

[auburngrad82]

11. As I stated, turnout at the polling places I passed was high

I passed three polling places and they had probably more than 100 people standing in line half an hour before the polls opened.

I hope that people realize that this is a chance to fix a lot of the problems the GOP has created.

On the other hand, I hope the right wingers are discouraged enough that they won't want to stand in the rain just to lose.

[Window]

9. Not this year, not this election.

[barbtries]

10. yep, along day

i'm headed to chapel hill to work right now. i thought if anything the weather would help the dems because we had such a great early voting turnout. but judging by your post and what i heard on the radio earlier, the weather is not going to very make many people stay home.

[knowledgeispwr]

12. Dunno: The rural east is less republican than the rural west

Most rural blacks in NC live in eastern NC. Still, I think Obama voters will be more determined than their republican counterparts.

[UnrepentantUnitarian]

15. I agree with that.

A poll yesterday showed that Obama supporters "had strongly positive" feelings about him by near 90 percent, but McCain people were only about 56 percent "strongly" for him. That shows depth (or shallowness) of commitment, I think, and that could be especially reflected at the voting places in adverse weather.

[wildeyed]

13. Light intermittent rain here in Charlotte.

Rain is thought to depress turnout and benefit the repubs, but this year our people are so fired up. Also, early voting was huge, so hopefully we have a lot of the more iffy votes banked already.

[rdublue]

14. good news about the lines to vote

I hope people will get out and vote anyway.

[Thrill]

16. Its not even raining here in Charlotte. I just finished. There were about 20 people in front of me

and 20-30 after me.

And the rain isn't suppose to be that bad across the state

[abburdlen]

17. Rain cleared up this morning

Most of the rain is going to stay off shore at least until afternoon per the local Wilmington forecast.

Normally I'd say early morning voting favors Republicans and if its clear in the morning but rainy in the afternoon then the GOP might have a good day but this election is anything but normal. After the last 8 horrid years, I don't see rain keeping people desperate for change from voting.

As for the political leanings of different parts of the state, here's a map from the 2004 election

I was surprised how blue the northeastern part of the state was.

[knowledgeispwr]

23. Don't be surprised...

Most of NC's rural blacks (who are mostly democrats) live in the eastern part of the state. Those northeastern counties are some of the blackest (percentage-wise) counties in the state.

[RBInMaine]

18. GOTV GOTV GOTV !! Tell people they MUST vote. DRESS for the weather and bring UMBRELLAS !!!!

[Schulzz]

19. I think it helps us because higher enthusiasm among Obama supporters and a big early voting lead. nt

[Phoonzang]

20. One of the talking heads said, it actually helps us this time because of Early voting.

[Best_man23]

21. As Diddy put it...

Aint no line too damn long

And I'll add

No rain too hard
No snow too deep
No wind too cold
No sun too hot

There is NO EXCUSE for not voting today.

[mwooldri]

22. IIRC in the primaries, Obama carried the east....

so maybe that's where the support is?

Let's just hope all works out well, plus all the other races.

Mark.

[knowledgeispwr]

24. Obama did well in Charlotte, the Triangle (east central)...

the Triad (central, west-central) and the eastern part of the state. Eastern NC is home to many of NC's rural blacks, who are mostly democrats. Obama's highest numbers, however, come from the aforementioned urban areas.

[black light poster]

25. Where it's raining it pretty much always helps the other side...

...at least a little bit. It always keeps some voters home, and the question is just "who"? It helps the Repubs more because hatred simply is a more powerful motivator than most. And fear, anger and hatred are the core motivations for so many on their side.

In 2004 it rained across Ohio all day long and I really think that hurt us there, in addition to whatever else might have happened in Ohio that day.

It's raining here in Virginia today, too, and I don't like that at all with our lead as narrow as it is.


That said, it's also true people are more pumped up than ever before, and we're gonna win here anyway. (And also, yes, any early voting lead we already have helps that much more on rainy days.)

[tinymontgomery]

26. Voted in Small town of Cherryville, NC

20 minutes after the doors opened the lines were out the door took 40 minutes to vote. Loved it because we use paper ballots that then get scanned. If people vote early I think they will miss the rain.