What a gem of a Democrat we have in the state of North Carolina.
No wonder Governor Easley not only has won twice by landslide margins in Red North Carolina, but he has enjoyed consistent 67%-72% approval ratings from NC voters.

Regardless of your Presidential preference, political analyst from both political parties in North Carolina are giving Governor Mike Easley  double thumbs up for courage and conviction.

Op-eds in at least 4 newspapers in the Triangle area, Charlotte, and Greensboro will be paying homage to the democratic Governor tomorrow.

Governor Easley has literally shocked the political world of North Carolina today.

With 1 week to go & a very slim chance of Sen. Hillary Clinton winning the state, it came as a surprise to everybody including Clinton's very own state chair.

As repeated several times by local media outlets this evening, the easy way for Governor Easley was to do one of two things:

1) Endorse the strong favorite Barack Obama who is favored to win on May 6, ( as two of the current Dem Governor candidates have done)

As pointed out by the media, NO ONE KNOWS BETTER THAN GOV. EASLEY HOW TOUGH IT IS TO WIN a DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY in North Carolina against an AFRICAN-AMERICAN CANDIDATE.

Easley, despite his immensely popularity, lost to Black democrat Harvey Gantt in the Dem Senate Primary where  8 out of 10 African-Americans voted for Gantt.

( But come GE, Gantt was easily defeated by the Republicans)

OR

2) Easley could have easily remained silent & neutral. That would have been the easy way out.

As pointed out by Raleigh' ABC affiliate, politicians like Bill Richardson , John Edwards, & many others could learn from the courage of Easley. Most politicians love to join the bandwagon & jump with a perceived winner.

It took Bill Richardson two months to calculate who he felt would win the nomination & get him a possible role in the cabinet or even a VP selection.

While Edward's anonymous staff today, acknowledged that the reason Edwards has not endorsed, is he wants to make sure that he endorses the eventual nominee.

Easley, who was being heavily pushed by democrats to run for the Senate, will give his reasons tomorrow on why he endorsed Senator Clinton.

According to news reports, the Governor will use Clinton's ability to win back several states in the South including North Carolina as one. And the other being his belief that Clinton will be the strong candidate for November.

Kudos to you Governor Easley !

The hardest act to do for most politicians is refrain from joining the bandwagon & sticking to your beliefs.