he is in raleigh, n.c., this morning. welcome to the program. battleground state. guest: traditionally, it has been a red state. it is moving more and more into a competitive state, and there are several reasons why. one of the things our organization does is ask every year the voters where they stand in terms of conservative level. only florida and virginia, in terms of southern states, are to the left, so it is pretty divided. it also has political progressives, so it has been pretty much a modern state traditionally. there has been a tremendous influx of people from around the country. particularly in the big metropolitan areas, and none has been changing the politics over the years. in addition, it has a significant african-american population. 22% is african american, which is the largest african-american population in about ground. all of those factors have put north carolina at into play. >> recently, you wrote an article with the headline, north carolina more like wisconsin than you might think. give us the comparison between north carol

host: our next call comes from edwin in new bern, n.c., on our line for republicans.see you on the air but my thing is -- in this election has been more nuclear polarized and i voted for barack obama the first time but he will not get my vote the second time. he does not have a plan for this country. if we continue to go in the direction we are going, things will not be corrected. rather than attacking the person, he waits until almost the last 10 days to insult our intelligence to have a booklet of all of his plants which are just a rehash plans of the last four years. i was proud to go to the voting booth early. we had a -- even today, we still have a large turnout of early voters in newburn and i am glad to see a lot of people i have spoken to who were in my shoes last time that voted for barack obama and have changed their mind. host: robb christensen, go ahead. guest: he is giving his opinion but we have had a tremendous turnout of early voting in north carolina. in 2008, 51% of the electorate voted before election day. essentially, obama won the election before

scheduled for in charlotte, n.c. to ruptured achilles' tendon.hey have to be optimistic after sunday with the reagans. this, just five and a half surgery to repair his torn achilles. he's 29 and davis is three years under. same surgery today. he starts his rehab with a lot hope and a generous dose of optimism. robert griffin the third is the top of the nation and pittsburgh, they posted a warning that he is coming. the steelers are an early five favorite treat talk is all robert griffin. he is all over the national news. espn andve minutes on seem to getan't him. of i've done everything i can to team and i continue to do that. y week, i'm going to put it line and they have responded to that. it takes everyone, not just one guy. be the guy too telling because they're me that. r me, it's just about doing all along. for baseball fans, the giants came back to win the pennant down three games to in the national league championship series. they outscored the cardinals' move on to the world series. it's not even there. he breaks the bat but powers in to

they take on conference rival n.c. state. if they win this one they will be bowl eligible.s not get ahead of ourselves. he's telling the team only to focus on beating the wolf pack. >> you can't look at the big picture because you have to take care of the small things first. right now, i just worry about taking one game at a time. when that game's over, you know you win it. you put it in the bank and you gain interest. >> to baseball the national league championship series the giants on the ropes tonight facing elimination if they lose to the cardinals. game five of that series in st. louis. runners on first and third. hunter pence a little dribbler. appears to have a play at second. but they're a bit late. marco scutaro scores. the giants score two or times in that inning. they force a game six, san francisco win this is one. >> for a complete rundown of tonight's high school football action b sure to check out high school sports on news channel 8. back to you sir leon. [laughter] [ mitt romney ] look at the evidence of the lasfour years. we've got 23 million people out of

. >> maryland returns home where next week they'll face n.c. state and uva host wake right here. in charlottesville, dave owens, 9 sports. >> thank you, dave. >>> an upset alert in big 12. west virginia on the road taking on texas tech. 7 yard touchdown pass to bailey. but it would be all texas tech in this game. the completion to kinnard. 16 yards for the score. six touchdown passes today. red raiders upset the mountaineers. virginia tech hosting duke that's been surprisingly good this season. duke jumped out to a big league, 20-0 in the first quarter. the hokies roaring back with unanswered points. 86 yard touchdown run. that is a beauty. hokies win 41-20. >>> to the nfl, dating back to last season, washington redskins have now lost 8 straight games at home. tomorrow they have a chance to stop that skid when they host the minnesota vikings. as we told you earlier in the show, it appears rg3 will start despite suffering a concussion last week. in order to keep rg3 from getting crushed, the skins should make their running game a priority, despite the vikings defense giving up one

you cut me off -- host: back to the phones, n.c., go ahead. caller: my name is johnny, good morning. i want to talk about the ground game. in north carolina, we are not a swing state anymore. up until four or five days ago, we got five or six calls per day from both parties and it has dropped back. you're lucky to get one a day. i am thinking mitt romney but the main reason i called that earlier a guy called in about the government payroll. that gives obama automatically more people on the ground. host: we are running out of time. talk to us about the situation in north carolina and where it seems to be leaning and if it's true that one side or another has picked up stakes and moved on to somewhere else. guest: there has been disputed about this recently. obama has not been to north carolina since the convention. mitt romney has a bigger lead their than he does in any other potential swing state. the obama campaign continues to insist they're not pulling out of north carolina. they sent the vice president and first lady there but it is clear t

the head coach of the terps against n.c. state, having frustrations again.hman quarterback perry hills, intercepted over the middle and hills trying to make a tackle, gets blocked and there goes his left knee. yikes. carted off the field. no official word. randy edsall said it doesn't look good. terps down 10-3 at the half. third quarter, n.c. state's mike glenan, deep ball by brian underwood. 68 yards,17-9, wolfpack. replacing hills, devon burns. play-action, beautiful. 17-15. two-point conversion failed. late in the fourth, burns more of a runner, they go to caleb rowe, poised under pressure, rolls out, throws a strike, delivers to nigel king. king's only catch of the year,33 yards down to the 14, set up brad craddock who missed an extra point earlier in the game and this one for the win. technical term. off the upright, doinked from 32 yards. so many great efforts for nought. maryland suffered its first conference loss of the year 20-18. homecoming in annapolis. navy hosting indiana, first time they've gotten together since 1986. second quarter, mids down

conservative chancellor who also he was telling us that there really has been a very significant rise in n.c. and with good reason for the public. that there are whole lot of pretty restrictions which come to us from europe or european law which we can't change which you have to go along with even though we are so huge degree with them because see who the single currency is and mr your european economy is based. doing before. it is not particularly inspirational but there's a big question where are the year at this thing millions going you know all this money going to all these projects and still you know people are facing very very severe austerity measures what people are going to be looking for ahead of david cameron going to these negotiations. and certainly with this rift that we think it is part of a wider rift in the government people want to see leadership here from david cameron and they don't want it to come from brussels they want it to come from their prime minister and be talking in their national interest no in europe thing to us so first of london well money matters are also d

host: our next call comes from edwin in new bern, n.c., on our line for republicans. caller: i am glad to see you on the air but my thing is -- in this election has been more nuclear polarized and i voted for barack obama the first time but he will not get my vote the second time. he does not have a plan for this country. if we continue to go in the direction we are going, things will not be corrected. rather than attacking the person, he waits until almost the last 10 days to insult our intelligence to have a booklet of all of his plants which are just a rehash plans of the last four years. i was proud to go to the voting booth early. we had a -- even today, we still have a large turnout of early voters in newburn and i am glad to see a lot of people i have spoken to who were in my shoes last time that voted for barack obama and have changed their mind. host: robb christensen, go ahead. guest: he is giving his opinion but we have had a tremendous turnout of early voting in north carolina. in 2008, 51% of the electorate voted before election day. essentially, obama wo

police and charlotte, n.c. looking for the driver involved in a hit and run caught on camera. he is run right over by an suv. the pedestrian was born about 10 feet into the air, but amazingly was not seriously hurt. the driver remains on the loose. >> in this morning's consumer the greco high chair is being pulled from shelves after reports that d.c. can become loose or detach from the base. so far nine children have suffered injuries or raising from, bruises and even a concussion. basic customers should contact them for a repair kit. in a survey by coupon cabin finds more adults are using coupons on dates. a survey finds more than 26% use a coupon on the first date, up from 18% last year. the survey found the same number of people surveyed would not mind if there date used a coupon on the first date. that brings us to our question of the day, would you be willing to use our mind of someone else used a coupon on the first date? sure your response. you can share your response on wbaltv.com, on our facebook page, or send us an e-mail at watercooler@wbal.com. and toyota is strugg

next call is from roslyn, n.c., a republican. >> i just wanted to say that i think the debate went well. i think the moderator in this debate did better than the last presidential debate, keeping order and what not. i think president obama keeps trying to play the blame game, blaming what he inherited instead of going off of his record, which there really is not much of one cured his record has failed. people say that romney is just going off his massachusetts record. that is because it worked. i think romney can implement the policies he had a massachusetts to the united states, just modified. thank you. >> next step is part kills, missouri, lisa, a democrat. -- park hills, missouri, lisa, a democrat. >> the government does create jobs. i worked as a nurse in health care for government jobs on many occasions. also, the government jobs that men get when they are working on highways and things like that our government jobs. so that is in favor of obama. another topic -- and other comment i wanted to make and i don't know why president obama is not bringing this up, at the beginning of hi

the california national guard left yesterday's heading for n.c.. a scotchman of big c-17 cargo planes carrying helicopters are being sent also. those helicopters will be able to rescue stranded people from rooftops. they will be sent there to help with that effort. tents, medical supplies, and other deer followed. an elite group trained to deal with emergency like this was sent. >> i am highly trained personnel and the air force. they have to be qualified in t cnc foggy conditions as to start the morning. we do have a dense fog advisory issued by the national weather service. certainly keep that in mind as to get hot on the freeway. we will see sunshine into the afternoon. your temperature's very similar to what we saw yesterday's. tomorrow we have major changes talk about. a critical the cloudy afternoon. rain begins later that evening. overnight will see heavy showers waking up thursday morning looking ahead dry weather by the weekend, plenty of sunshine to go around. if temperatures will start to climb back by monday it could actually be in the

charlotte, n.c.. joelle on our line for democrats -- joel on our line for democrats. host: keep it to the moderator. caller: they are only upset of it doesn't go their way. host: so they both did well? why is that? caller: yes. both expressed themselves. there's nothing wrong with a guy with a smile. i cannot hear you. you are breaking. host: thank you. john and north carolina, i agree with leno. mandy crowly will begin next moderator on tuesday. and bob schieffer is the fourth moderator. watch the debate at 9:00 p.m., get your responses to it after it is done, good to our website and will be able to find out everything and the information for that. i want to let you know that if you wanted to see what town hall debates are like and at the same time to give a bit of a history as far as the past town hall debates the lectern and at 7:00 p.m. tonight, three town hall debates from three different years from 2004 with mccain and obama, from 2000 with al gore and george w. bush. and george h. w. bush, bill clinton and ross perot, from 1992. three different types of debates

bill clinton is speaking in dhahran n.c..ow but let's see how much we can listen to. >> in the federal government gave the money for the student loans directly to the universities and set money aside. they did this rather than having the banks subsidize them. this made the loans cheaper and in addition we gave every student on a student loan program time to pay back. tonight to the mate collaps >> tonight's debate will be tonight. bill clinton spent time defending the president. you could go to 24 again this coverage begins as 6:00 p.m. tonight. tice the navy hovercraft is expected to land at 10:00 a.m. and it is a part of day defense program. this is all part of sleets we. do not forget to watch the blue angels live at 3:00 p.m. on saturday. the oakland a's game has sold out and is about $300 per ticket. gold days. we will see you back here tomorrow morning. dan hurd: when i was a child, california was a leader in education funding. erika derry: and the fact that california isn't making it a priority frustrates me. dan hurd:

rocky mountain, n.c., democratic line. thank you for joining us.our thoughts on the debate so far? caller: i thought that the president was a bit lax, but effective in the debate. i have a quick one to ask the people. how can you fix the economy in four years when you have a bad outlook for 16 years? i mean, the president is just one man. you have got to have participants on both sides. host: thank you so much for that this morning. republican line, orange, texas, bill is waiting to talk about the debate so far. has it impacted your decision on the vote? caller code the debate has not really impacted me at all. i have been rather frustrated, because for me is difficult to understand and comprehend the facts -- let me say that these men are very intelligent. more so than i will never be, no doubt in my mind. but to get up there and just act like kids, going back and forth at one another, i totally disagree with that kind of conduct. i would like to see them get up there and do the best that they can to provide the facts and allow the other -- they d

charlotte, n.c., and obama supporter. hello. what did you think about the debate? caller: i thought gov. romney came in as being well rehearsed. i feel that obama stood by what he stood by four years ago. he was in a deadlocked congress. he was not given a fair chance to provide us with the goals he tried to achieve and the four years. i feel he has not been given the respect of a president of the united states. i feel that america has lost their respect of a president. he was not given a fair opportunity to -- about what he said he was going to do. that is wired we have a more unemployed ray -- he was not given a chance. host:from cnn -- here is a little bit of the article from the web site. 57% say mitt romney, 25% say barack obama. that is from cnn.com. here is "the huffington post." huffingtonpost.com for the full article. following the debates as all watchers know, the spin room was active at the university of denver where surrogates' came in from both sides to say why there can did it was the best. marco rubio was in there for mitt romney. >> i think we have

caller: i want to know about n.c. and what is going on with that.hrowing it out there, what could we possibly do about the profiteering in the senate and the ties to wall that money. would it be possible to have the american people pay taxes? guest: i think she was referring to the gubernatorial race in north carolina. republicans have not won that race in a long time. but pat mccurry, as far as the money in politics, there seems to be no indication that money is going to disappear from politics or the campaign any time soon. president obama raise $750 million four years ago. there is so much outside money. before one is willing to say that enough is enough. host: ken rudin is our political junkie at npr, contributing to that coverage, running the blog as well. he is the editorial coordinator of the state impact project. our last caller was calling from north carolina. let's go won over to talk about virginia. we can see it here at the national map. states in yellow are said to be tossups. virginia? guest: you have evenly matched people, tim kane an

so, i think that it is important, very important for obama in states like virginia and n.c. or florida that black voters turn out at the rates that they turned out in 2008. and i think it would be beneficial for mitt romney if they did not for obvious reasons. host: on the route you have this story, mitt romney -- what did your reporter have to say? guest: he interviewed with black enterprise i believe. we wrote a little bit about it. he does not have specifics on black unemployment. but neither does barack obama. they do not think about black unemployment specifically. it is generally more just, i am going to create jobs better than the barack obama is going to. i am going to improve this economy. they both sort of have this -- philosophy. neither one of them are going to directly address black unemployment or black employment. host: what about the stimulus packages that president obama put through congress? for those viewed by african americans and what has governor romney said about them? is that something that african- americans look to point to when they look to say wha

so, i think that it is important, very important for obama in states like virginia and n.c.r florida that black voters turn out at the rates that they turned out in 2008. and i think it would be beneficial for mitt romney if they did not for obvious reasons. host: on the route you have this story, mitt romney -- what did your reporter have to say? guest: he interviewed with black enterprise i believe. we wrote a little bit about it. he does not have specifics on black unemployment. but neither does barack obama. they do not think about black unemployment specifically. it is generally more just, i am going to create jobs better than the barack obama is going to. i am going to improve this economy. they both sort of have this -- philosophy. neither one of them are going to directly address black unemployment or black employment. host: what about the stimulus packages that president obama put through congress? for those viewed by african americans and what has governor romney said about them? is that something that african- americans look to point to when they look to say what

jonathon in charlotte, n.c., why are you a first-time voter? caller: i just started voting because what i registered to vote last time in 2008 i was not old enough of the time to vote. an hour i am old enough. i'm kind -- and now i am old enough. i'm kind of like i have a say so as far as what is going on in my generation. host: who are you voting for? caller: i am voting for obama. host: i am not encoding simply because i'm black or because he is black or because of any of those things. i am voting because of the fact that obama is thinking about the middle costs -- middle class. we have completely thrown our country and down the drain by saying that we will tax people who are trying to get somewhere instead of taxing people who are already somewhere. these people who are making billions of dollars have enough money to help others in need. they have enough money to give to the ones in need. instead of uniting the country and doing bad, we decide that we want to say, listen, we are going to pay these guys more than we will pay these guys. you h

he is a former six term n.c. state senator and is currently north carolina's lieutenant governor. pat mccrory is republican candidate for governor. he served for three terms on charlotte's city council land as mayor of charlotte for seven terms starting in 1995. the rules of the debate, beginning with opening statements for both candidates. following those the candidates will respond to questions asked by three television news anchors from across the state. the debate willon the order of the opening and closing statements and questions was determined prior to the debate and had been agreed to by the candidates. walter dutton will have the first opening statement. dutton: i want to remember our north carolina national guardsmen who lost their lives in afghanistan and remember their families and thank them for their service and look forward to your questions tonight. this is an important election. we have seen tough times and north carolina is at a crossroads. i love north carolina and i want to help the people that are in the middle class, the working families, senior citizens. i l