More than 2.5 million people in North Carolina voted early which amounts to 40 percent of registered voters in the state.

In the race for the Senate seat, Kay Hagan is given a 4 percent lead over Elizabeth Dole in the latest polls.  It’s basically a toss up.  Things have heated up significantly in this race thanks to an ad released by the Dole campaign last week.  The ad attempts to depict Hagan as an athiest.  The ad says that the Godless Americans PAC held a fundraiser in her honor.  That is damaging enough in a bible belt state, but it gets worse.  The ad shows a picture of Hagan with a soundbyte from a female voice saying “there is no god” implying that Hagan said that.  Hagan has filed a lawsuit for defamation of character over the ad.  Dole has asked the judge to throw it out, calling it frivolous.  It will be interesting to see if this move by Dole works in these hard economic times.  My prediction: Kay Hagan wins by a hair.

The race for president in North Carolina is even closer.  The McCain campaign has doubled up their efforts here in the last few days, and it might pay off.  The latest polls have Obama up by only one point.  However, I am not sure whether the polls have fully taken early voting into account.  Polls closed 30 minutes ago and it is too close to call right now.

Nationally, all the latest polls give Obama the edge.  The widest margin comes from Gallup with 13 while the closest comes from Rasmussen with 6.

Final prediction: Thanks in part to early voting, Obama wins NC, and the presidency.

J.C.