It's also worth noting that Obama didn't do so horrible in the mountain counties of NC. He won a few and was competitive in others. Cross the state line south of Highlands into the North Georgia mountains and Obama was clobbered. Obama didn't crack 30% in a single county in North Georgia, despite being culturally similar to western North Carolina. You might even say that Obama's unusual strength in a region he should not have been competitive in actually won him North Carolina.
I get Obama winning counties like Buncombe, home of Asheville, but can anyone explain to me how he was competitive in the more rural mountain counties?
There was "moderate" Democratic governor during Civil Rights era. The whites in North Carolina were never as polarized as in other southern states. Blacks obviously vote for democrats still. Combined with the poverty of the region I am guessing that's why the two counties voted for Obama.
Jackson - 10% Native American.
Georgia also had moderate governors during the civil rights era. Ernest Vandiver was governor from 1959 to 1963 and while he talked a good game about desegregation, his record doesn't match it. He didn't fight the desegregation of UGA in 1961 and he presided over the integration of Atlanta public schools. Carl Sanders was the next gov from 1963 to 1967 and he is noted for cooperating with Kennedy and Johnson on Civil Rights. In fact, during the Democratic primary in 1970 Jimmy Carter criticized Sanders for paying tribute to MLK. Talk about ironic.
Of course, after Sanders we had to deal with Lester Maddox, who more than made up for Vandiver and Sanders in fiery racist rhetoric. But I will say, right before he died, around 2002, I saw him at S&S Cafeteria in Chamblee (he knew my grandfather), and he was one of the nicest/eccentric people I had ever met.
