Obama shifts spectrum in 3 red states

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By Christina Bellantoni

Charlie W. Williams, 78, was one of the first black paratroopers and earned three Purple Hearts serving the country in Korea and Vietnam.

"We had a tough time but it has changed," said Mr. Williams, of Raeford, N.C. "I tell a lot of African-Americans, don't think you're the only one who put him there. He's going to get a lot of white votes. And if he don't make it, he still tried."

But Maybel Williams, an Obama supporter from Fayetteville, said she wished more white faces had been in the crowd at his rally.

"I worried there was more pepper than salt," she said. "White folks have to stand up and be counted and not just sneak out the back door."

White voters interviewed for this story were more likely to say that racism won't matter on Election Day.

"People are putting their own interests ahead of their preconceived notions," said Scott Cundiff, 58, of Wheeling, W.Va. "Obama is an extraordinary candidate for working people and has a lot in common with them."

But there are less-harmonious signs.

A campaign office phone banker in West Virginia was flustered Monday by the response at the other end of the line. "Well, I'm sorry you feel that way," she said. After hanging up, she whispered to the volunteer next to her, "Idiot."

A dead bear was found with Obama signs stapled around its head on the campus at Western Carolina University. The college students responsible said it was a prank, not a threat. But each state has seen signs defaced and Confederate flags flying in yards along with anti-Obama messages.

When Mr. Obama stopped at Cape Fear BBQ and Chicken in Fayetteville before his rally, a 54-year-old customer yelled, "Socialist, get out of here," and declined to shake the hand of the senator from Illinois.

A clerk working hours later told a reporter that the Obama visit "ran away some of my regular customers."

The Washington Times captured on video some McCain supporters heckling a group in line to vote early after Mr. Obama's rally in Fayetteville.

The protesters called the voters "cheaters" since the local elections officials opened the site on a Sunday to accommodate demand from the rally. Some shouted the word "terrorist" and taunted Mr. Obama's acknowledged drug use.

"Those people didn't discourage me," said Karen Boone, a Fayetteville social worker who cast her vote for Mr. Obama. "He has a vision for the future and will bring the type of change we need. It's been a rough eight years."