Are political pundits wrong to call North Carolina a swing state?

[RRusso1982]

A lot of political pundits say North Carolina is a true swing state now.  I beg to differ.  Let's look at the last two elections.  In 2008, Obama won North Carolina by about 14,000 votes, or three tenths of a percent.  This was after all the stars lined up perfectly for him.  He won the national popular vote by almost 7 points, the financial crisis hit North Carolina hard, especially the Charlotte area, and the black turnout was historic for Obama.  In spite of all this, Obama only won North Carolina by three tenths of a percent.  I believe that Hillary would have come up short in North Carolina against McCain.  In 2012, Romney beat Obama by about two points in North Carolina.  Again, the black turnout was very high for Obama, and Romney had a lot of problems with the evangelical voters in the state because he was a Mormon, but he still won North Carolina.  I don't think North Carolina really is a swing state though.  I think that for the Democratic nominee to have a serious chance at winning NC, he or she would have to be winning the national popular vote by at least 5 points.  In a true horse race in 2000, it's not happening.  North Carolina could be a true swing state a few cycles down the road, but it's not there yet.  Any thoughts?