11:48 a.m. E.T.

One cannot say (despite what the campaigns try to argue) that either presidential campaign is giving up on any of the Big Nine.

Take, for example, North Carolina. It is true that it is not on the President’s closing itinerary, but Bill Clinton will stop in Raleigh Saturday and Michelle Obama will return to Charlotte Monday for the first time since the Democratic convention.

If Chicago didn’t think Obama could win the state, FLOTUS and FPOTUS would not be spending time there.

According to the Raleigh News & Observer, Jim Messina told the North Carolina campaign Thursday:

“[The Romney campaign] kept saying this past summer and in early fall that North Carolina would be put away by early October. But the fact is, we are exactly where we thought we would be – in a tied race and we’re going to win it on the ground.”