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Easley backing gives Clinton a push in N.C.
AP Photo
Sen. Hillary Clinton with Gov. Mike Easley at an event at which Easley announced his endorsement of her candidacy. Clinton has been behind Sen. Barack Obama in polls but is closing the gap.
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Published: April 30, 2008
RALEIGH
Gov. Mike Easley's endorsement yesterday of Sen. Hillary Clinton adds a bit of momentum to Clinton's attempt at a remarkable come-from-behind victory -- both in North Carolina's primary and in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Her odds remain long.
Nationally, she trails Sen. Barack Obama in delegates, and she is counting on superdelegates, such as Easley, to help her win the nomination.
In North Carolina, which will vote Tuesday, Clinton has consistently trailed Obama by double digits, although she appears to be closing the gap. A tracking poll by Public Policy Polling showed Obama with a 12-point lead this week, down from 25 points at the beginning of last week.
The Clinton campaign is trying hard to lower expectations in North Carolina, even as Clinton and her surrogates campaign vigorously here.
"If she somehow or another won here, it would be the upset of the century. You're talking about 100-to-1 odds on that," said Averell "Ace" Smith, Clinton's state director in North Carolina.
If Clinton finishes within 15 points of Obama, Smith said he would consider it a victory for the campaign.
Tuesday's other primary, Indiana, is widely considered a must-win state for Clinton, and polls there show the two candidates in a dead heat.
In North Carolina, Clinton said yesterday that Easley's endorsement is "politically meaningful," and she praised his efforts to promote the state's biotechnology industry. Easley appeared alongside Clinton at N.C. State University and announced his support for her, saying that she understands the link between a good education system and a strong economy.
But speaking to reporters afterward, Easley also acknowledged that a Clinton win in North Carolina would be "a longshot."
One big reason that Obama is favored to win here is the state's sizeable black population. About a third of Democratic primary voters are expected to be black voters, and polls show that blacks favor Obama over Clinton at a rate of more than 8-to-1.
To counteract that, Clinton must win a large majority of white voters, and she is counting on strong support from working-class whites, one of her strongest constituencies.
Those are the sorts of voters where Easley's endorsement could help the most. He has rural roots, is famous for his love of NASCAR and his supporters say that he is well-liked outside of Raleigh.
"It may be that the governor's endorsement will give Clinton a reaffirmation, or kind of a reinforcement, of her effort to win voters in the kinds of towns that Bill Clinton has been campaigning in," said Ferrel Guillory, an expert on Southern politics at UNC Chapel Hill.
Indeed, former President Clinton continued his whirlwind tour of smaller towns yesterday, campaigning for his wife in Boone, North Wilkesboro, Elkin and Mount Airy.
Bill Clinton started his swing at a $500-a-plate luncheon in Blowing Rock.
At Appalachian State University in Boone, people packed the gym as Clinton began his speech at 4:15 p.m., an hour behind schedule.
Obama is the favorite on campus, but Obama supporter Lacy Nichols, a senior from Albany, Ga., waited three hours to hear Clinton's speech.
"I just want to see Bill," she said.
In North Wilkesboro, Clinton gave the same speech in an old-fashioned political setting, standing on a porch of someone's home as several hundred stood in the grass and streets.
Both the ASU crowd and the small-town crowd cheered when he denounced President Bush's No Child Left Behind educational policy and when he said that soldiers need to be brought home from Iraq.
Afterward, Dave and Phyllis Moulton of Millers Creek said they felt that Clinton hit all the points that needed to be hit.
Dave Moulton pressed in and shook hands with Clinton and gave him a uniquely Wilkes County invitation.
"You need to come to MerleFest and bring the president with you," Moulton told him.
Later in the day, people inside the Elkin High School gym wore homemade "Hillary '08" T-shirts and waved pictures of Bill Clinton.
Shar Winebarger of Elkin said she likes the fuss that is being made over smaller cities and towns.
"I think it's going to be a close race…. I think every small voice is going to make a big difference in this year's election," she said.
■ James Romoser can be reached at 919-210-6794 or at jromoser@wsjournal.com.
■ Journal reporters Monte Mitchell and Sherry Youngquist contributed to this article.
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