More: In a post on the Old North State Politics blog, Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer wrote of the early voting surge: "Democrats appear to have generated disproportionate early energy, both among registered partisans and among unaffiliated voters. The fact that more than half of Unaffiliated voters chose the Democratic ballot " reversing the traditional go where the action is' pattern " is one of the cycle's most intriguing developments."

"The question now," Bitzer wrote, "is not whether early voting was strong. It was. The question is what these patterns signal about overall turnout " and whether Election Day reinforces or rebalances what early voting has already revealed."

North Carolina Democrats are heading toward November with a clear advantage in public opinion, according to a High Point University Poll released on Monday.

The survey of registered voters asked how they would vote for generic ballots for the House and Senate. In both cases, those responding intended to vote Democratic 46% to 41% percent for Republicans. It was the same margin when voters were asked how they would vote in state House and Senate elections.

Unless there is a dramatic change in the economy or a major national event, it appears that Democrats are ready to ride a wave of support driven mostly on disapproval of the Republicans' performance in both Washington and Raleigh.