President Barack Obama has given up on North Carolina, one of the election’s key swing states with its 15 electoral votes, says Democratic strategist Paul Begala, an adviser to pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action.
Asked on CNN on Monday whether Obama has essentially ceded the nation’s 10th biggest state to Mitt Romney, Begala responded, “Yes.”
"I'm not supposed to say that," he added. "I'm working for the pro-Obama super-PAC, so I'm being paid to help re-elect the president, but if you look at where he's spending money, it looks like Gov. Romney is likely to carry North Carolina."
Watch the CNN interview with Paul Begala. Story continues below.
Obama instead will focus on the swing states of Colorado, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada, Florida and Virginia, Begala said.
In what may have been a response to Begala, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina wrote on Twitter Monday, “Lots of chatter we're giving up on NC. Simply not true. Just look at voter reg and early vote.”
RealClearPolitics rates North Carolina as “leaning” toward Romney. In the latest major poll, taken Oct. 17, Rasmussen Reports puts Romney ahead 52 to 46 percent.
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