Campaign vehicle?

Too much is left unsaid in Mike Easley's new explanation of how an auto dealer's SUV wound up in the family fleet

(The Raleigh News & Observer) - Mike Easley has recharged the battery and cranked up a new explanation of how that GMC Yukon wound up in the Easley family driveway.

The SUV wasn't on lease from a friendly auto dealership in Robeson County after all. Instead, it had done campaign duty for almost two years during the former Democratic governor's successful run for re-election in 2004 -- even though the campaign hadn't paid for the vehicle or use of it, and the dealership couldn't have donated it legally. And then, starting in 2005, it wound up in the hands of Easley's son the law student because, well, just because.

But it's all been straightened out now. As of this month, Easley has paid the dealer for the SUV (a 2000 model) itself. His campaign committee has paid for the vehicle's use during the gubernatorial campaign. The campaign has even paid the State Board of Elections nearly $3,000 in interest on the money that should have been paid to the dealership back when it should have been paid, instead of right after The N&O's J. Andrew Curliss started asking questions.

Got that?