Obama Takes North Carolina; Clinton Finally Takes Indiana

Senator Barack Obama secured a major,14-point victory against Hillary Clinton in North Carolina. The New York Senator barely eclipsed Obama in Indiana.

WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) - With a day that brought split primaries, Illinois Senator Barack Obama still came away with the majority of the delegates for North Carolina and Indiana.

Not long after the polls closed, the North Carolina primary was called for Senator Obama. With only 35 percent of the vote in he had already carried a 15-point margin over New York Senator Hillary Clinton - a relative margin he maintained throughout the evening. One of the reasons for such a resounding victory was the 91 percent support by African-American voters in the state.

Indiana, on the other hand, remained elusive for the entire evening. Most new organizations held back on calling the race. CBS news, however, was the first to give Indiana to Clinton after 9pm Eastern Time. NBC had first labeled the race "too early to call" and then switched to "too close to call."

With Clinton holding a 2 to 3 percent margin as the votes continued to come in, Indiana's second largest county - Lake County, still had not reported. By midnight, indications from the county showed Obama leading 74 to 26 percent in the early returns. Lake County, the most northwestern county in Indiana, is close to Chicago, IL.

Early Wednesday morning the Indiana primary was finally given to Senator Hillary Clinton.

At a victory rally Tuesday evening in Raleigh, NC, Barack Obama congratulated Clinton on her apparent victory in Indiana. "This has been one of the longest, most closely fought contests in history, and that's partly because we have such a formidable opponent in Senator Hillary Clinton."

Rather than claiming the democratic throne in his remarks, Obama sought to speak words that would unify the party, no matter which candidate faces John McCain in November.

"But ultimately, this race is not about Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama or John McCain. This election is about you - the American people - and whether we will have a president and a party that can lead us toward a brighter future.

"This fall, we intend to march forward as one Democratic Party, united by a common vision for this country. 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. We need change in America."

He also addressed Clinton's concerns about his ability to run against the Republican candidate, by stating, "The question, then, is not what kind of campaign they'll run, it's what kind of campaign we will run... I didn't get into race thinking that I could avoid this kind of politics, but I am running for President because this is the time to end it."

Hillary Clinton addressed her supporters in Indianapolis while the outcome in Indiana was still in question. She began by saying that her opponent had previously stated that she would win Pennsylvania, he would win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tiebreaker. "And thanks to you, it's full speed to the White House," she said as the crowd cheered.

Her remarks concluded with an appeal for funds to fight on in the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries.

An exit poll by CBS News indicated that most voters in both primary states had already made up their minds a while ago. Only 17 percent in Indiana and 14 percent in North Carolina had made their decision, CBS learned, within the past three days.

Nearly half of voters in both states indicated to pollsters that the situation with Reverend Wright, Barack Obama's former pastor, was important in their vote, while half said that it was not.

Exit polls in Indiana noted that 20 percent of the voters in the Democratic primary were independents. An additional 10 percent were Republicans and many are giving credit to Rush Limbaugh, who encouraged Republicans to cross party lines and vote for Hillary.

The economy still fared as the number one issue on voter's minds both in Indiana and North Carolina.

The best-case scenario for the Clinton campaign going into today's primaries would have been for Hillary to obtain a clear and decisive early victory in Indiana and a very close race in North Carolina. This would have pushed the New York Senator into a much more influential position.

Just the opposite has happened. Obama won an early victory in North Carolina and the vote in Indiana was too close to call for many hours. This does not give her the advantage she had hoped for, hurting both her hunt for funding as well as super delegates.

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