According to North Carolina’s John W. Pope Civitas Institute, early voting looks very strong for Mitt Romney and the Republican Party. While overall early voting is up, it is trending stronger Republican by a long shot than this point in time in 2008. Democratic early voting is down by approximately 46,928 votes, a 3.5% decrease from 2008; Republican early voting is up 75,232 votes, up 9.6%. Unaffiliated voters are also up 17.1% -- a great fact for Mitt Romney, who by every poll is winning North Carolina independents by a wide margin.

Surprisingly, early voting is up 2.6% over 2008 in North Carolina, but that isn’t all clocking in for Obama. In fact, black voters are up 7%.  But that isn’t enough to stem the tide of disappointment for Democrats and enthusiasm for Republicans. And, of course, day-of voting in North Carolina is expected to swing heavily for Republicans.