Somebody at the Associated Press has been reading too many Obama press releases:

Democrat Barack Obama made an aggressive play for this traditionally GOP state and polls showed the race tightening. That forced Republican John McCain to defend his turf or risk ceding the southern state — and its 15 electoral votes — to Democrats for the first time in 32 years.
Now, just seven weeks before the election, North Carolina has become a general-election battleground, one of 13 states where both candidates are competing with television commercials and campaign staff on the ground.

Barring a “live boy/dead girl” scenario, John McCain will win North Carolina by double digits. He’s led every poll in the state since April, and the only two non-partisan polls taken since Sarah Palin joined the ticket show the Republicans leading by 17 and 20 points. There is no reason — at least, no journalistic reason — for AP to try to turn Team Obama’s fantasy into a folie a deux.