Sorry, Barack: NC Gov Goes For Hillary

I first heard the suspicion that North Carolina Governor Mike Easley would buck the huge advantage Barack Obama has in North Carolina's polling to support Hillary Clinton late this afternoon. The Associated Press now confirms it:

Hillary Rodham Clinton has won the endorsement of North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, a surprise boost to her candidacy in a state where Barack Obama is heavily favored to win the Democratic primary.

Easley was expected to announce the endorsement Tuesday morning in Raleigh, the state capital, one week before North Carolina's primary on May 6, according to people close to the governor and to Clinton. The individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement was pending.

With its liberal white enclaves and large population of black voters, North Carolina has been viewed as exceptionally favorable to Obama. Public polling in the state has him leading the former first lady by 10 points or more.

But Clinton has contested the state in hopes of an upset. Short of that, her campaign aims to peel off enough pledged delegates to stay competitive with Obama.

The former first lady spent Monday campaigning across North Carolina and has run a heavy television advertising campaign in the state. She was headed Tuesday to Indiana, whose May 6 primary is viewed as much more competitive.

Easley is relatively well-liked—or at least, isn't heavily disliked—by both Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina, and has enough political capital that his endorsement could actually make things interesting if Clinton continues to close on Obama.

And yes, she very well should continue to close.

Obama looks weak and scared for dodging another debate with Clinton. His dodge ie occuring even as Jeremiah Wright's latest rants give Tarheel voters good reason to find Obama's judgment suspect for the two decades (and counting) he has spent at Wright's radical church, where paranoia, anti-Americanism, racism, and conspiracy-theorizing has proven to be not only accepted, but a bizarrely lucrative business.

I'm not convinced that African-American voters will turn on Obama for Wright's lunacy even as few buy into his hatred, but I suspect that some white and Latino Democratic voters who had been leaning towards Obama now realize that his hopes of prevailing in the general election have been heavily damaged, and they may flip to Clinton instead of throwing away their vote. Thus does Easley's endorsement become important for Democrats on the edge.

A few weeks ago, North Carolina was predicted as a blow-out victory for Barack Obama. Now?

Anything's possible.