The Tar Heel State, where the GOP gubernatorial candidate is steeped in controversy, is a critical battleground in the presidential race.

North Carolina's Republican candidate for governor is at the center of a national news story. That's because of the salacious nature of a series of posts by Mark Robinson, unearthed by CNN, from a pornography web site's discussion board.

The CNN report describes a series of racial and sexual comments Robinson allegedly posted on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago.