North Carolina "Virtually Irrelevant" to Clinton Campaign?

The Clinton campaign steps in bigger 'n' bigger cow pies, trying to spin it that she's actually the front-runner for the nomination. Most recently, Clinton's senior advisor Harold Ickes told the NYTimes yesterday, "They're great states, but Idaho, Nebraska and the Carolinas are not going to be in the Democratic column in November. [Obama is] winning the Democratic process, but that is virtually irrelevant to the general election."

Like Kos, we noted Ickes' curious turn of phrase, that Obama is "winning the Democratic process" -- he's ahead in delegates and in total popular vote -- but that those are mere trifles (and "virtually irrelevant") when you're bulldozing your way to a coronation.

An Obama spokesman scolds the Clinton camp for "waving the white flag" in North Carolina, and we appreciate BOTH implications in that phrase. They've been trying to marginalize Obama as "just the black candidate" for some time.

Meanwhile -- and this was a total surprise this a.m. -- Democratic frontrunner for NC governor Beverly Perdue has endorsed Obama. Her chief rival for the governor's office, Richard Moore, had already endorsed Obama some weeks back.