by AUDRI HAMM 

North Carolina has not been a hotly contested political state, at least not at the federal level, for over 30 years.

The last time this state voted for a Democratic presidential candidate was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

The election results show President-elect Barack Obama winning North Carolina by just over 13,000 votes.

This has led to a lot of talk about turning a traditionally “red” state “blue.”

State-level politics have been competitive for years.

The political makeup of a state is much more than which presidential candidate it votes for.

Even in the era of the late super-Republican Jesse Helms, the governor’s seat changed party four times.

Now the seat Helms once held, and turned over to Republican political royalty Elizabeth “Liddy” Dole, belongs to Democrat Kay Hagan.

That is change.

If the Democratic Party and all of the youth voters want to hold on to what they accomplished this election, they need to look beyond the oval office.

What about two years from now, when incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr is up for re-election?

What about incumbent Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx, who re-claimed her congressional seat this election?

Yes, the Democrats had a resounding victory this election, and swept many of the open races in the state, and even upset a few incumbents.

But if history shows us anything, political popularity is a swinging pendulum.

Four years ago, President George W. Bush won North Carolina by 12 percentage points.

Burr was elected. The state was reliably red.

So do not get too hasty, Democrats.

Celebrate for a little while, but do not get complacent as the Republicans did this year. Dole, for example, overwhelmingly underestimated her Democratic challenger until late in the election, and look where that got her.

But I wouldn’t say North Carolina is blue yet.

Purple maybe, but then again, this state has been purple in state and local politics for a long time.

And you know what?

I don’t think that I want North Carolina to be blue.

It is much more fun to live in such a politically competitive state.

We saw candidates pour millions of dollars into ads and campaign appearances here.

When was the last time that happened?

We hear about Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida every election, as swing states, or battleground states.

Wasn’t it exciting to hear North Carolina mentioned in that conversation this year?

So keep up the good work.

The amount of student and youth involvement in this campaign was incredible.

Don’t forget about it.

Just because you voted this year doesn’t mean your civic duty is over.

Come back in two years and take part in the mid-term elections.

It might not be as exciting as a presidential election, but it can be just as influential.

So hurrah, congratulations, and see you in two years.

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