Obama wins North Carolina Democratic primary; Clinton leads in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS — Barack Obama swept to victory in the North Carolina primary Tuesday night and declared he was closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Rodham Clinton clung to a narrow Indiana lead, struggling 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 and Obama both said the former first lady would win Indiana. Yet thousands of votes were yet to be counted, principally in Lake County, not far from Obama's home city of Chicago.

She told cheering supporters in Indianapolis, "Thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House," signaling her determination to fight on in a campaign already waged across more than 15 months and nearly all 50 states.

Returns from 98 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 was hoping to counter Obama's persistent delegate advantage with a strong run through the late primaries. Returns from 88 percent of the state's precincts showed Clinton with 52 percent of the vote to 48 percent for Obama.

Obama won at least 63 delegates and Clinton at least 57 in the two states combined, with 67 still to be awarded.

Voters in both states fell along racial lines long since established in a marathon race between the nation's strongest-ever black presidential candidate and its most formidable female challenger for the White House.

The economy was the top issue by far in both states, according to interviews with voters as they left their polling places.

Two weeks after a decisive defeat in Pennsylvania, Obama sounded increasingly like he was looking forward to the fall campaign.

"This primary season may not be over, but when it is, we will have to remember who we are as Democrats ... because we all agree that at this defining moment in history — a moment when we're facing two wars, an economy in turmoil, a planet in peril — we can't afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush's third term."