By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 1:16 PM

Voters in Indiana and North Carolina streamed into polling places today to choose between Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) as their protracted battle for the Democratic presidential nomination entered its final month of primaries.

Turnout was reported brisk in both states, the largest remaining on a calendar of nominating contests that culminate June 3.

At stake were a total of 187 pledged delegates to the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention in Denver -- 115 of them from North Carolina and 72 from Indiana. Obama currently leads Clinton in total delegates by 1,745 to 1,608, according to an Associated Press tally, with 2,025 delegate votes needed to secure the nomination.

Obama, leading in the polls in North Carolina, hoped to widen his delegate lead and contain the damage from recent controversial remarks by his former pastor. Clinton, who won Pennsylvania's April 22 primary, was looking to capitalize on a string of victories in large battleground states with a strong showing in North Carolina and a win in Indiana, where polls showed a tight race.

But with neither candidate likely to reach the nominating threshold by the end of the primary season, Democrats were bracing for a battle at the convention, where the votes of nearly 800 unpledged "superdelegates" were expected to be decisive. In part, the competition in the remaining primaries was aimed at winning the support of undecided superdelegates.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. EDT in Indiana and were scheduled to close at 6 p.m. Polling hours in North Carolina were from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EDT.

Obama, 46, made last-minute appeals for support in Indiana before a scheduled flight later in the day to Raleigh, N.C., where he planned to attend an election night party at North Carolina State University. Clinton, 60, was holding her election night event in Indianapolis.

Obama began his day by surprising patrons of a restaurant in Greenwood, an Indianapolis suburb. The freshman senator from neighboring Illinois walked around shaking hands, then sat at a counter and ate an omelet for breakfast. He predicted a close finish in the state.

"I feel good," the Indianapolis Star quoted him as saying. "We campaigned hard all over this state. I think it's going to be close. I don't know just yet what's going to happen."

Obama later greeted voters at Hinkle Field House on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, where part of the basketball movie "Hoosiers" was filmed.

Clinton, meanwhile, used the renowned Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25, as a backdrop for some remarks about her own race. But she declined to make any predictions about the primaries.

"Every race is filled with the unexpected," Clinton said. "You never know what's going to happen from day to day."

Touring the facility with racer Sarah Fisher, Clinton posed for pictures with Fisher's car and pit crew, the Associated Press reported. Asked what her message was, the second-term New York senator said, "That we need to get on the track in America."

Alluding to the abbreviations for Democrats and Republicans, she remarked: "If you want to go forward, you put it in D. If you want to go backward, you put it in R."

Fisher, a Clinton supporter who said she voted for the former first lady this morning, interjected, "And just so you know, we don't have reverse in this car."

Seeking to keep her comeback hopes alive, Clinton spent part of Monday stumping in North Carolina, a state she was once expected to lose decisively. Sensing an opportunity to gain ground there amid a controversy over the comments of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., Obama's former pastor, Clinton campaigned vigorously, promoting her support for a summer moratorium on the federal gasoline tax and other economic initiatives.

"I'm running a campaign on a simple belief: This election is about jobs, jobs, jobs," Clinton told a crowd at a train station in High Point, N.C.

Obama publicly repudiated remarks by Wright last week as "outrageous" and "destructive." In an April 28 news conference in Washington, Obama's former pastor defended the fiery sermons that have become a political liability for the Democratic presidential contender, charging that a furor over his remarks represents an "attack on the black church."

In a policy disagreement with Clinton, Obama denounced the proposal for a "gas tax holiday" as a gimmick that would not give consumers much of a break while taking money away from needed road and bridge repairs. The proposal also is supported by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who has locked up the Republican nomination for president.

"It's a stunt," Obama said of the proposal during an appearance in Evansville, Ind. "It's what Washington does."

After today's primaries, six more contests remain on the Democratic nominating schedule. West Virginia holds a primary May 13 with 28 pledged delegates at stake, and Kentucky and Oregon hold primaries May 20 with a total of 103 delegates up for grabs. Voters in Puerto Rico go to the polls June 1 to determine the allotment of the territory's 55 pledged delegates. The primary season then concludes with contests June 3 in Montana and South Dakota, which offer 31 pledged delegates combined.