As everyone outside North Carolina knows, a big senate race is brewing in the Tar Heel state. The primary season isn’t over, and already millions of dollars in outside money have flooded the state. Negative ads fill the airwaves – covering Obamacare hypocrisy, romantic affairs with lobbyists, alleged payouts and more. National polls track who’s up and down. And we still have more than 6 months until Election Day. This is what happens when control of the U.S. Senate is at stake.But what about inside the state? I just returned from a three-day visit, trying to learn the answer. Where is the focus? What issues matter? And in other races there, could North Carolina really elect a U.S. Representative who’s better known for singing on American Idol?No one can tell us better what’s happening on the North Carolina ground than Rob Christensen, often called “the Dean of North Carolina reporters.” Rob is a columnist and reporter at the Raleigh News and Observer, covering NC politics for nearly 40 years. He’s also author of “The Paradox of Tar Heel Politics.”