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Political Junkie: North Carolina Polls Explained

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Flickr/Phil Roeder

What insight do the polls hold less than 90 days away from the November elections? North Carolina has remained a bright purple target in the Electoral College and has received increased attention from presidential candidates in the 21st century. Former Vice President Joe Biden currently holds the lead in the Old North State, with four percentage points over President Donald Trump in a CBS Battleground Tracker Poll published on Aug. 2.

Will candidates’ takes on policing and racial justice remain in the media spotlight in the coming months? Over a million Americans are filing for unemployment weekly, forcing up- and down-ballot candidates to balance their broader platforms with the immediate needs of voters facing the possibility of a long-term recession. The Political Junkie Ken Rudin joins host Frank Stasio to explain how to read the polls — and when to look away from the crystal ball.

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Grant Holub-Moorman coordinates events and North Carolina outreach for WUNC, including a monthly trivia night. He is a founding member of Embodied and a former producer for The State of Things.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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