They chose poorly: Trouble for Dems in North Carolina as convention opens

They chose poorly, as someone might say –  Trouble for Dems in NC as convention moves into full swing.

For Democrats, North Carolina was an awkward choice and represents some of the challenges President Obama faces this Election Day.

Unemployment here is at 9.6 percent, well above the national average. The governor of the state, Democrat Bev Perdue, was rated as the least popular governor in the country in a recent survey and does not plan to seek re-election.

The state’s laws also run counter to Democrats’ publicly held positions. It is a right-to-work state, meaning workers cannot be forced to pay union dues — and meaning unions weren’t too thrilled about the decision to host the convention here. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in a memo last month that the union “won’t be buying skyboxes or bringing a big staff to the convention,” and other big labor groups have declined to contribute to the cost of the convention, after doing so in 2008.

Earlier this year, North Carolina voters also decided to approve a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, just as Obama became the first sitting president to endorse gay marriage.

And while Obama turned the red state blue in 2008, winning it by a nose, Mitt Romney appears to be slightly ahead going into November.

A new Elon University/Charlotte Observer poll out Monday showed Romney leading 47 percent to 43 percent in North Carolina. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.