North Carolina is the latest victim of extremism by the Tea Party freshmen swept into state legislatures across the country last fall:

Republican state representatives in North Carolina voted to override Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of the state budget Wednesday morning, ensuring that a provision to strip all federal and state money from Planned Parenthood will take effect on July 1. North Carolina is now the third state, after Indiana and Kansas, to defund the family planning provider because it also provides abortions.

The state will be a key battleground in the 2012 presidential race when Barack Obama tries to repeat his victory there, an achievement shared by no other Democrat since Jimmy Carter in 1976. If the GOP-dominated State Legislature alienates moderates in the state, it might render its 15 electoral votes an easier lift. [Huffington Post]