In N.C., economic worry hangs like cloud over election

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GREENVILLE, N.C. -- On a bright October morning, Laura Burkhead pinned her Obama button to her blouse and went job hunting.Out of work since March, Burkhead has made the rounds of restaurants and shops for months, getting nowhere. She finally began to have a nagging doubt."I'm wondering if I should even be wearing this," she confided, touching the campaign button. She's right to wonder.North Carolina, which has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, seems poised to give Barack Obama a victory, but Republican John McCain is close behind. The state is rated a toss-up.As I talked to people in this presidential battleground state, many in the business community praised McCain's traditional Republican emphasis on lower taxes for all income groups. Obama promises to lower taxes only for those who make less than $250,000 a year.To avoid election-season controversy, some employers ban campaign buttons and paraphernalia at work.Burkhead, 54, is registered as an unaffiliated or independent voter, the kind of swing voter McCain needs if he is to keep North Carolina red. But, like others who feel not just a nip but the bite of the sick economy, Burkhead favors Obama's message of hope and government help."This is the worst I've ever had it, financially," she said. After losing her job seven months ago as a caretaker for a patient with multiple sclerosis, she said, "I have nothing. Zero money. I'm on food stamps."She lacks health insurance. Her son, 30, has moved back to help her keep her house. Her parents, who are in their 80s, send money, but she hates to take it. They need their medicine."I don't even have water," she said. Her well played out, and she fills buckets with water at friends' houses.Her plight surely is extreme, and plenty of working people with good jobs also support Obama. Still, economic worry hangs like a cloud over this election.North Carolina's unemployment rate rose to 7 percent in September, nearly a point over the national average of 6.1 percent. Some 318,300 people in North Carolina were unemployed last month, 104,300 more than last September.I took a walk on Greenville's South Evans Street in the trendy Uptown section near East Carolina University to see what voters were saying about the economy and the election.Even in Greenville, a university town with a large medical center to buffer economic ups and downs, almost everybody had a personal story about the slowdown.Ross Woodall was standing outside the old Brody's Family Department Store, which he, as project manager, is in charge of renovating. For the right tenant, the stately 1920s building could be a restaurant, dance studio or office space.But so far, there is no tenant. Work will come to a stop soon, Woodall said, until a lease is signed. A vacant lot across the street also waits for a tenant and redevelopment.Woodall blames the news media for harping on the bad economy "over and over and over" -- which he said makes the situation only worse."The economy isn't great here, but I think Greenville, N.C., is better than most places," he said.His company has laid off half a dozen workers. He and his family are cutting back too. Woodall now goes home for lunch, and he and his wife have stopped going out to restaurants.On Election Day, he'll vote a straight Republican ticket -- "to counteract another vote," he said.At the Obama campaign office, several people stopped by, hoping to take home campaign yard signs. One was the job-hunting Laura Burkhead. She and others left empty-handed that day, though, because the few signs available were reserved for supporters who had already paid $5 apiece.Burkhead was saving her change for the library where she would work on and print out her resume."I can make a campaign sign," she said. "I used to be a painter."Besides, she didn't think the sign would last long in her yard. Her neighbors are all big McCain-Palin fans.Thinking about the troubled economy, Burkhead sounded wistful when she said, "I hope Obama can do something."Then, a light bulb of an idea lighted her face."Maybe he'll hire me!" she said.(Marsha Mercer is Washington bureau chief of Media General News Service. E-mail mmercer(at)mediageneral.com)