RALEIGH -- So, Mike Easley has endorsed a candidate who is likely to lose the state's Democratic presidential primary.

He's endorsed a candidate who will need a minor miracle to overcome her opponent's delegate lead in order to win the party's nomination.

And he's endorsed a candidate who is the dream to sit atop the Democratic ticket in North Carolina ... among Republican candidates and their campaign consultants.

Yes, once again North Carolina's governor has proven to be an astute student of political party nuance, not to mention racial politics in the South.

It's difficult to understand what Easley gains from endorsing Hillary Clinton.

Of course, he'd tell you that he gains absolutely nothing, that it's all about embracing a candidate for president who shares his ideals, his worldview.

OK, so politicians aren't interested in furthering their political careers. I got it now.

But let's look at what Easley has lost, here in his final year in office.

Sure, Obama's wacky former preacher may help scuttle his chances before he ever secures the nomination. But a Clinton-led ticket will do more to drive the state's Clinton-hating conservatives to the polls than anything that Jeremiah Wright can do.

Easley, though, has never been much concerned about the state of the party of which he is titular head. If Democrats down the ballot get damaged, apparently so be it.

But look for a few of those Democrats, some of them holding powerful positions in the legislature, to show the same amount of concern for their governor as he makes his way out of office. "No, governor, we just ran out of money. We don't hate your program. Really."

Rightly or wrongly, Easley's decision will also be viewed by some black Democratic activists -- excited at the possibility of a black president -- as a snub. A few won't have forgotten that Easley, in 1990, refused to step aside and forced a runoff against Harvey Gantt in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

It's hard to imagine that any Democratic governor in the South wouldn't have weighed all of this -- and how black Democrats are critical for their electoral success -- before weighing in for Clinton.

Certainly, the two Democrats who want to succeed Easley, Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue and State Treasurer Richard Moore, understand that political reality. Both endorsed Obama.

Had Easley done likewise or just sat on the sidelines, no one would have thought much about it.

Now, he has yet another maverick mark to attach next to his name.

There's just one problem with lone, political mavericks. They're just that -- lone.