Wrestling with issues of class and race, and with a predominantly rural makeup, North Carolina is in some ways a microcosm of the United States, Simon Montlake reports today. For dueling candidates in a presidential race, the state is also a major test of earned trust with voters within some key demographic groups. 

We begin today’s Daily with the latest of our on-the-ground swing state reports. (We’re on top of developments on the Korean Peninsula, too – a lot of buzz at our morning meeting.)