Obama Is Decisive Winner in N.C.; Clinton Ekes Out Victory in Indiana

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Democrats Split Indiana and North Carolina

Sen. Barack Obama won North Carolina's presidential primary by a wide margin Tuesday, while Sen. Hillary Clinton narrowly won in Indiana.

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Roughly a third of the voters in both states said the Wright situation was very important in their vote, and those voters went heavily for Clinton. But an almost equal percentage said Wright made no difference, and they strongly supported Obama.

The economy was the dominant issue in both states. More than six in 10 voters in each state cited that issue as the most important one facing the country -- equaling the biggest percentages of the primary season. In North Carolina, those economy-driven voters backed Obama narrowly; in Indiana, they supported Clinton.

In North Carolina, Obama brushed aside a determined effort by Clinton, whose campaign believed her populist economic message and proposal for a summer suspension of the federal gasoline tax was helping her to gain ground there on her heavily favored rival. Overwhelming support from African American voters, who made up a third of the electorate, helped seal the Obama victory.

In Indiana, Clinton built her initial lead with strong support from white voters, particularly working-class whites who had become the focus of both candidates. Obama enjoyed an advantage in northwestern Indiana because of its proximity to his home in Chicago, but Clinton sought to balance that with solid support in more culturally conservative southern Indiana. She carried the overwhelming number of counties in the state, but Obama won college towns and the city of Indianapolis.

The Indiana and North Carolina results followed the pattern of previous Obama-Clinton contests. Clinton carried the votes of white women in both states, while Obama won men in North Carolina and split them with Clinton in Indiana. Obama won younger voters, while Clinton carried the backing of older voters. Clinton won whites; Obama won blacks.

At stake yesterday were 187 pledged delegates -- 115 in North Carolina and 72 in Indiana. That made yesterday the third-biggest day of the long nomination battle in terms of delegates, but more important, it was the last big day on the calendar.

An additional 217 pledged delegates remain to be chosen in the final six contests between now and June 3: primaries in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota.

Obama entered the day with 1,745 delegates to Clinton's 1,608, according to an Associated Press tally. Included in that count are superdelegates -- elected officials and party leaders who are automatically granted a vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Among those superdelegates, Clinton led Obama 270 to 255.

Obama has gradually narrowed what was a much larger gap in the superdelegate competition. About 270 superdelegates remain uncommitted, by most media counts.

Those superdelegates are critical because neither Obama nor Clinton can reach the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the nomination in the remaining contests. Because pledged delegates are allocated proportionally on the basis of primary results in each state, it is virtually certain Obama will end the primaries with a lead among pledged delegates but still short of the majority needed.

Clinton's campaign yesterday once again raised the question of what should happen to the 366 delegates from Florida and Michigan. Both states have been barred from taking their seats at the convention because they violated party rules in establishing the dates of their primaries. Clinton's camp wants both delegations seated and has noted that, if that happens, a total of 2,209 delegates would be needed to win the nomination.

The Democratic National Committee's Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet May 31 to hear challenges on both Michigan and Florida and will make recommendations to the party about a possible resolution. DNC Chairman Howard Dean has said his goal is to seat both delegations, but he has given no ground on his stance of not allowing their delegates to play a major role in determining the outcome of the nominating contest.

Eventually the issue may go to the DNC's Credentials Committee, which takes over responsibility for determining the fate of the disputed delegations at the end of June.

Clinton herself raised Michigan and Florida during a visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday morning. Asked if 2,025 or 2,209 was the real number of delegates the Democratic nominee would need to win to get the nomination, she said, "I think it's 2,209," and repeated her view that the results of primaries in Michigan and Florida should be honored.

Clinton appeared at the speedway with Sarah Fisher, one of the top female drivers. "I'm here to see Sarah, who is a trailblazer," Clinton said as the two women stood side by side in front of open-wheel race car that had been specially painted blue and had Clinton's name on it. Asked about why she was at the speedway, she said, "There's a good racing analogy -- if you want to go forward, put it on D, if you want to go backwards, put it in R."

Obama began his day in Indiana as well and later flew to North Carolina to await the results of the primaries in both states. Early yesterday at a diner in Greenwood, Ind., Obama took a seat at the counter, ordered a ham-and-feta-cheese omelet and hash browns, and struck up a conversation with Rick Jones, a custom-home builder seated on the stool next to him.

"I've eaten breakfast every morning here for 20 years in this seat. I walk up this morning -- I had no idea what was going on," said Jones, who added that he had nearly finished reading Obama's first book, "Dreams From My Father." Asked whom he planned to vote for, Jones said, "The person sitting next to me."

Over the final days of the campaign, Obama's campaign shifted its emphasis to smaller and more casual events, a mix of community picnics, diner visits and even a roller-skating party. The candidate stopped by construction sites at dawn and factory gates at midnight.

Obama's family joined him over the weekend, which appeared to lighten his mood. But the joint pummeling from Clinton and McCain was wearing on him, his advisers said. He was struggling to promote his own cause while spending half of every speech drawing contrasts with his two opponents.

Amid the din, Obama struggled to get his message out. On Saturday morning in Indianapolis, he delivered an economic speech that had been days in the making, in which he described the rocky times that many Americans are facing as an affront to the American dream. It was an effort to break through to working-class voters, but it was overshadowed by the gas-tax rhetoric tucked in the middle of the address.

"This economy doesn't just jeopardize our financial well-being, it offends the most basic values that have made this country what it is: the idea that America is the place where you can make it if you try. That no matter how much money you start with or where you come from or who your parents are, opportunity is yours if you're willing to reach for it and work for it," Obama said.

Murray, traveling with Obama, reported from North Carolina. Staff writer Perry Bacon Jr., traveling with Clinton, reported from Indiana. Polling director Jon Cohen and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.