Mike's clout's out

Mike Easley's endorsement of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary wasn't enough to help her overcome a big lead by Barack Obama. Major news organizations were calling the race for Obama minutes after the polls closed Tuesday evening, underscoring Clinton's loss and the lack of a boost from the governor, who has showed pretty good popularity numbers throughout his seven-plus years in the governor's office.
Of course, those numbers were among the general citizenry, not just Democrats, and Easley has been anything but an avid party man like his predecessor, Gov. Jim Hunt, who lived and breathed Democratic Party politics all his life. Easley won the governorship almost despite the Democratic Party.
I've never bought the argument that Easley really wanted a top job in Washington in a Democratic administration, but if he did, Tuesday night's vote probably didn't move him any closer to that job as U.S. Attorney General at the Department of Justice. (From Jack Betts)