INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Barack Obama swept to a convincing victory
in the North Carolina primary Tuesday night and declared he was
closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary
Rodham Clinton eked out a win in Indiana as she struggled to halt
her rival's march into history.
"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. - and left no doubt he
intended to claim the prize.
Clinton stepped before her own supporters not long afterward in
Indianapolis. "Thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White
House," she said, signaling her determination to fight on in a
campaign already waged across more than 16 months and nearly all 50
states.
Returns from 99 percent of North Carolina precincts showed Obama
winning 56 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Clinton, a triumph
that mirrored his earlier wins in Southern states with large black
populations.
That made Indiana a virtual must-win Midwestern contest for the
former first lady, who had hoped to counter Obama's persistent
delegate advantage with a strong run through the late primaries.
Returns from 99 percent of the precincts showed her with 51
percent to 49 percent for her rival, a margin of little more than
22,000 votes out of more than 1.2 million cast. The outcome wasn't
clear for more than six hours after the polls closed, the
uncertainty stemming from slow counting in Lake County near Obama's
home city of Chicago.