After what has been three months of a flood of endorsement's for Barack Obama Hillary Clinton nabbed an endorsement that should have an impact for her in the May 6th North Carolina Primary. The picture above is that of North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, and yesterday he announced he is endorsing Hillary.
In the past few weeks I have talked of the importance of having Gubernatorial endorsements in primaries so feel the Easley endorsement is news worthy whether people around the country know who he is or not. As opposed to the endorsement's of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Ohio's Ted Strickland, and Pennsylvania's Ed Rendell this endorsement comes late in the game. These three Governors were working their states for Hillary for months while Easley endorsed just 8 days out.
Some may say that a last minute endorsement for a candidate down 12 points in the polls will not have much of an impact. Even with Easley's support, Clinton will probably not win the Tar Heel state. However, a recent example of late Gubernatorial support was that of Charlie Crist in Florida. It made a difference for John McCain as he pulled out a decisive victory where Romney was up in the polls.
This endorsement should also help solidify the base of voters that Hillary has had already and if she travels a few days with Easley it should help her with late undecideds. The one poll number that has been prevalent since the New Hampshire Primary is that Clinton has 'closed' fast in the last 72 hours of each election. People that make their decisions late have been breaking towards her.
In North Carolina the last image Democratic voters will see is her with their popular Governor who has been unbeatable by Republicans in a Republican leaning state. The same holds true in Indiana, where the last images Hoosier state voters will see is Hillary with two time Governor and current Senator Evan Bayh.
Combine those invaluable free media opportunities with a field and "Get Out the Vote" operation which has been very effective and Tuesday could be a successful day for Hillary.
The problem for Hillary is this. She has to win North Carolina or Indiana. She can't claim momentum by going 0 for 2. She is still down and at this point of a campaign 'moral' victories are not.
Yet if she can win Indiana and get North Carolina under six or seven points,,, she will have a real case to make that she should be the nominee.
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