WASHINGTON: Hillary Clinton and first lady Michelle Obama will campaign together for the first time on Thursday, in North Carolina, a state that Clinton’s top advisers view as a must-win for Donald Trump. As the final polling day draws closer, the Clinton campaign is dedicating a lot of time to North Carolina. The former and current first ladies will campaign together in Winston-Salem, Brian Fallon, Clinton’s spokesman said on Sunday. Clinton’s strategy in North Carolina relies heavily on the high turnout from African American and Latino voters along with a strong showing of well-educated whites. Michelle Obama’s appearances for Clinton have garnered as much attention –if not more- as any other campaign. “I think she has emerged as our not so secret weapon. She exceeded our expectations in terms of how many events she has been able to do and been willing to do,” Fallon said. “Her team keeps surprising us with her availability and we can’t get her out there enough.” “She has been an absolute rock star,” he added. Clinton also campaigned in North Carolina on Sunday, attending church in Durham with largely black worshipers, and then headlining a rally at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh. Clinton criticised Trump at the church service, saying that the Republican nominee is painting a “miserable picture of the inner cities and the African American community” while arguing that systemic racism could be fixed with more law and order. Later in the day, at an outdoor rally in Raleigh, Clinton argued in favor of key Democrats, picking them as the kind of people she needs if she wins the presidency. Clinton singled out Roy Cooper and Deborah Ross, the North Carolina Democratic gubernatorial and Senate nominees, respectively. “North Carolina deserves a governor who puts the people of this state first, not some kind of ideological agenda,” Clinton said. Clinton heralded Ross as the “kind of partner I need in the United States Senate.” “Unlike her opponent, Deborah has never been afraid to stand up to Donald Trump,” Clinton said. “She knows that he is wrong for America, she knows that people of courage and principles need to come together to reject his dangerous and divisive agenda.”