Clinton seeks game-changer in battle with Obama in Indiana, North Carolina

By: Beth Gorham, THE CANADIAN PRESS

WASHINGTON - Democratic front-runner Barack Obama wanted to seal the deal and Hillary Clinton was furiously fixed on upending the extraordinary U.S. nomination race in crucial contests Tuesday in Indiana and North Carolina.

Clinton, fighting for survival, needed at least one win to avoid renewed calls for her to drop out. She appeared to have a slight edge in Indiana and was leading Obama in the first handful of rural precincts to report results.

Obama, meantime, was favoured in North Carolina.

A split decision was unlikely to radically alter the bruising battle, while a double win for Obama could end it.

Two victories for Clinton, on the other hand, would dramatically change the game.

Her support among blacks in both states was down in the single digits, according to exit polls.

Obama's biggest challenge has been wooing white blue-collar workers who've flocked to Clinton in recent contests, raising questions about his electability this fall.

His job was harder over the last week after racial, anti-American remarks from his ex-pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright created a furor and put the spotlight on their close, 20-year relationship.

Voters in the two states, where the economy topped concerns, were divided evenly when asked whether the Wright controversy was a factor in their decisions.

When it comes to the math after four months of state contests, Obama's substantial lead in pledged delegates would be nearly impossible for Clinton to overcome by the time voting ends June 3.

But she's hung in, intent on convincing a majority of nearly 800 Democratic officials and legislators who will decide the race that she alone can beat Republican John McCain in the run for the White House.

The contests Tuesday presented the last best chance to scoop up delegates for the party's August convention and sway the so-called superdelegates before the remaining six smaller primaries.

"I think it's going to be close," Obama said early in the day in Greenwood, Ind.

"As usual, I'm seeing a lot of enthusiasm among the voters."

It's been a rough few weeks for Obama, who hasn't actually won a big state since Wisconsin in mid-February.

Besides the Wright controversy, he's faced damage over his own comments about "bitter" small-town residents and charges that he's an elitist who's out of touch with lower-income Americans.

His losses to Clinton in Ohio in March and Pennsylvania in April, created an opening for her argument that he can't capture a major voting bloc in November's general election.

Obama has been doing better among upscale, educated voters, young people and blacks.

"It's really a mixed bag," said Obama. "There've been some states where we have won the blue-collar vote. Wisconsin. We won it in Iowa. We won it in Minnesota."

"Then there are states where we've not done so well, mainly because people are much more familiar with Senator Clinton and President Clinton and their track record. You have to give them credit."

Both candidates were predicting the race would go at least through June 3. But Clinton wasn't forecasting the latest showdowns.

""Every race is filed with the unexpected. You never know what's going to happen from day to day," she said in Indianapolis.

Pre-vote polls put Obama ahead in North Carolina, where about one-third of voters were black.

Clinton, though, had cut into his lead there in recent weeks and appeared to have an advantage in Indiana.

Obama was expected to do well in the northwestern part of the state, which borders his home town of Chicago.

The predominantly black steel town of Gary was poised to fall his way and about 250,000 blacks in Indianapolis promised another boost.

Clinton's base is in southern Indiana's overwhelmingly white, rural communities.

Indiana's history of racial turmoil - it was once a major base for the Ku Klux Klan - threatened to present problems for Obama, who's vying to become the first black U.S. president.

Spiralling gas prices dominated campaigning in both states in the final days.

Clinton has proposed a gas-tax holiday over the summer, a plan ridiculed by Obama as ineffective and blatant pandering to voters.

Obama began the day with 1,745.5 delegates, to 1,608 for Clinton, out of 2,025 needed for the nomination, according to the Associated Press.

Indiana had 72 delegates at stake, while North Carolina had 115.

Most of the remaining states appear to favour Clinton

Neither candidate will reach the required number in the remaining contests, setting the stage for superdelegates to make the final determination.