US President Barack Obama places “the fate of the Republic” on shoulders of the North Carolina voters, asserting that the former secretary of state will win the US 2016 presidential election if the state’s voters back her.
Rallying for Clinton in Chapel Hill on Wednesday, Obama tied the fate of the election to the Tar Heel State, saying, "We don't win this election, potentially, if we don't win North Carolina."
"I hate to put a little pressure on you, but the fate of the Republic rests on your shoulders. The face of the world is teetering, and you, North Carolina, are going to have to make sure that we push it in the right direction," Obama said.
The president further asserted that he was serious, saying, "If Hillary wins North Carolina, she wins. That's why I said the fate of the Republic rests on you. I wasn't joking."
In 2012, Obama lost the state to Mitt Romney, although he had won it in 2008.
According to an average of recent polls by the Real Clear Politics, Clinton is two-tenths of a percentage point behind his opponent, Republican candidate Donald Trump in the state.
A new CNN/ORC poll of the four battleground states released Wednesday, showed that Clinton is leading in Florida and Pennsylvania and trailing in Arizona and Nevada.
Clinton leads Trump in Pennsylvania by 4 points, 48 percent to 44 percent, and in Florida by 2 points, 49 percent to 47 percent, while Trump leads her in Nevada and Arizona by 6 points, 49 percent to 43 percent and by 5 points, 49 to 44 percent.
Trump has gained around 5 percentage points in Nevada but it is unlikely for him to win the required 270 electoral votes without winning Florida, which has 29.