I think its fair to call North Carolina a swing state, it was one of the closest states in both 2008 and 2012 and will likely be for the near future barring a landslide. I agree that battleground state is more appropriate. On a side note, Indiana is not a swing state at the presidential level. 2008 was a perfect storm and Romney won Indiana by double digits.
But 2008 and 2012 were strong Democratic wins. In '12, Obama won the popular vote by a 4% margin, while in North Carolina, Romney won by a 2% margin. In '08, Obama won the popular vote by 7%, but only won NC by less than half a percent. And Obama would generally do better, at least marginally, in North Carolina, a state where blacks comprise over one-fifth of the electorate.
If the national popular vote margin is within a percent or two (no one has been elected president while trailing by over a percent in the popular vote since Hayes in 1876) North Carolina will almost certainly be won by the Republicans. I suppose it could swing in an unlikely matchup--maybe Christie vs. Webb or something--but I still highly doubt it.
