TEN THOUSAND turn out to protest GOP in Asheville, NC

[marions ghost]

62. There are other factors you are ignoring

This article goes into it briefly:

http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/what-went-wrong-for-north-carolinas-democrats/Content?oid=3186368

Nov 7, 2012

(snip)
"To some degree, this was baked in the cake with what went wrong in 2010," said Steven Greene, an associate political science professor at N.C. State University.

That's the year the GOP ranks, seizing on a rancid state economy and conservatives embittered from a 2008 drubbing, flushed the General Assembly with Republicans at a pivotal moment: Lawmakers were preparing to redraw the state's voting districts following new census figures, granting an all-important power to Republican majority conservatives.

There's little else for Democrats to blame, said John Davis, a longtime North Carolina political consultant from Raleigh. "There's a simple formula," Davis said. "Money plus maps equals a majority. That's about it." Davis is a popular speaker and trusted source for political reporters. He's also a realist. He prefers numbers, not sentiment, when he talks about elections.

He said Republicans' 2010 victory—which happened as a national census ensured newly drawn voting districts, coupled with the windfall of campaign donations that bolster incumbents—struck a mortal blow to this year's crop of Democrats."

(snip)

"Former House Speaker Joe Hackney, an Orange County Democrat, retired in 2012 after the GOP redrew House District 54 to include only Chatham and Lee counties—excluding Hackney's Orange County stronghold.

Hackney said Democrats enlisted strong candidates and leaned on high-quality consultants, but Republican cash and new voting districts gave the GOP a clear edge."
(more at link)