A gifted mimic, Gov. Mike Easley has long been known for his dead-on imitations of Tar Heel politicos such as Jim Hunt, Tony Rand and Marc Basnight, as well as various rascals from his days as a small-town prosecutor.

But the governor has recently been expanding his repertoire to include Hank Hill, the good ol' boy propane salesman from Texas on the animated TV program "King of the Hill."

When national pundits such as Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford call, Easley morphs into his Hank Hill character, mimicking classic lines such as: "Just remember, Bobby, I'm so proud of you. If you weren't my son, I'd hug you."

Easley has been a "King of the Hill" fan since his days as attorney general. When running for governor, Easley was so interested in appealing to the real-life Hank Hills that he had his pollster test his support among viewers of the show. ("King of the Hill" viewers usually favor Republicans by a 3-1 margin, but Easley has a 40 percent approval rating among them.)

None of this would be particularly interesting except that Easley is creating a bit of a national buzz as a Democrat who knows how to win in a red state.

Easley is the only Democratic two-term governor in the South, having won twice while George W. Bush was sweeping North Carolina. A survey last month by a national Republican polling firm showed Easley with a 62 percent favorable rating in North Carolina. President Bush had a 49 percent rating in the state.

The governor first went public with his "King of the Hill" strategy when he talked to a group of Democratic governors after last fall's election. There is nothing magical about Easley's formula: appeal to the middle, focus on issues (such as education) that enjoy broad consensus and avoid divisive cultural issues. Try to be fiscally responsible while appealing to people's best instincts.

Easley is a political pragmatist -- moving to the left on education spending, taxes and civil rights while moving to the right on catering to business and supporting the death penalty. He also pays close attention to cultural symbols -- he is a regular churchgoer, a hunter and a notorious NASCAR enthusiast. Crawford writes that Easley has "a Bush-like way with regular folk."

So where is Easley heading with all of this Hank Hill talk? Easley is constitutionally barred from seeking re-election in 2008. He could challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole that year. Easley unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for the Senate in 1990 and thought about running in 1998. Since then, Easley has soured on the idea of serving in the Senate.

Besides, Dole is so admired that a Democratic challenge might look like a suicide run.

Nor is Easley likely to pull a John Edwards and run for president. Easley would much rather hit the links than campaign across Iowa. Besides, two Tar Heels in the race would be absurd.

Easley could be a dark-horse candidate for vice president. Hillary Clinton, after all, is used to having Bubbas around. Or Easley could be attorney general under a Democratic president.

I suspect Easley is not certain where he is headed when his term as governor ends. In the meantime, I think he enjoys being a King of the Hill Democrat.