Sen. Barack Obama scored a decisive victory in North Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary Tuesday while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ended up with a squeaker win in the hotly contested Indiana primary.
The results essentially maintained the status quo and kept the Democratic race grinding forward toward the end of the primaries on June 3. But that status quo now gives Obama the clear advantage, largely because of his lead in pledged delegates.
“Tonight we stand less than 200 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States,” Obama told a raucous rally in Raleigh, N.C.
Tuesday night, Clinton told cheering supporters in Indianapolis, “Thanks to you, it’s full speed to the White House,” signaling her determination to fight on.
The results came after the most difficult month of the campaign for Obama. Clinton had gained momentum by winning Pennsylvania two weeks ago, and Obama’s position appeared even more perilous when his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, went on a public relations tour and repeated many of his most controversial statements. Obama finally made an emphatic break with Wright a week before the primaries in Indiana and North Carolina.
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 black voters, who made up a third of the electorate, helped seal the Obama victory.
In Indiana, Clinton rode to the barest victory 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 made up for that with solid support in culturally conservative southern Indiana.
The results in Indiana and North Carolina followed the pattern of previous Obama-Clinton contests. Clinton carried the votes of 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 Tuesday were 187 pledged delegates — 115 in North Carolina and 72 in Indiana. That made Tuesday the last big day on the calendar. An additional 217 pledged delegates remain to be chosen in the final six contests.
Primary results
INDIANA
Democrats
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: 51 percent
Sen. Barack Obama: 49 percent
Republicans
Sen. John McCain: 78 percent
Others: 22 percent
NORTH CAROLINA
Democrats
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: 42 percent
Sen. Barack Obama: 56 percent
Republicans
Sen. John McCain: 74 percent
Others: 26 percent
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