That's where our story begins: when the Republicans took over Raleigh. McCrory seems like an unexpected man to oversee a dramatic rightward shift. He was the more centrist GOP contender for the gubernatorial nomination in 2008 (he lost to Perdue, barely) and had spent 14 years as mayor of Charlotte, earning a reputation as a moderate. But the combination of Republican control of both the governorship and the legislature has emboldened the GOP to take up a slew of conservative priorities. Central to the push is Art Pope, a wealthy businessman and political benefactor who is sometimes described as North Carolina's answer to the Koch brothers, and whom McCrory appointed as state budget director. Pope and his associates spent $2.2 million in state races in the 2010 cycle alone, Jane Mayer reported in 2011.

While much of North Carolina remains conservative -- as the 2012 election showed -- there is a strong concentration of much more left-leaning voters in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, and they've reacted angrily to the push. In a series of weekly demonstrations named "Moral Mondays," protestors have descended on the state legislature to show their displeasure and, often, be arrested: nearly 500 people have been arrested since the first such rally on April 29. (Last week on The Atlantic, Win Bassett followed the Rev. Tuck Taylor as she was arrested at the June 17 Moral Monday.)

Unlike the Madison contretemps, which centered around one major issue -- Gov. Scott Walker's drive to strip public employees of collective-bargaining rights, and protestors push to stop him -- the battle in North Carolina is more of a multifront war featuring a large number of skirmishes. Here's a quick primer on what they're fighting over:

1. UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: Starting today, 70,000 North Carolinians will lose long-term unemployment benefits from the federal government, even though the state has the nation's fifth-worst jobless rate; that comes on top of the state slashing its own benefits. It's the only state in the nation to end federal benefits. How did it happen? Well, the state is more than $2 billion in debt to Washington, so it decided to redirect money it had been using for state unemployment benefits for repaying what it owes. But in the process, it violated the minimum it must provide to qualify for federal benefits. The maximum weekly benefit will decrease from $535 to $350, and the longest anyone can stay on the dole will drop from 26 weeks to between 12 and 20 weeks. There are an estimated 700,000 North Carolinians who are out of benefits but don't have a job. The move is estimated to cut some $475 million from the state economy.

2. TAX OVERHAUL: Unsurprisingly, changing the state's taxation system has been a key priority, and a key reason for liberal fury. Also unsurprisingly, it's been a difficult, contentious process. In this case, protestors' best hope isn't their actions -- it's their opponents. Both the House and Senate are Republican-controlled, but they've been unable to reach a consensus, and last week had to agree to short-term continuing resolution to fund the state. And they're quarreling with the governor. The basic outline is clear: Changes would reduce both personal and corporate taxes and reduce state revenue, though McCrory wants more revenue than either chamber. Any plan is likely to result in lower income taxes for almost all residents, but also a much flatter tax code, with wealthier residents bearing a smaller percentage of the tax burden.