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NEWS : STORIES
With a convincing win in North Carolina, a rejuvenated Barack Obama handily took the biggest remaining delegate prize in the contentious Democratic nomination fight on Tuesday night. And then things got
Though Clinton had celebrated her Indiana victory hours before, CNN reported that officials in Lake County — a large county in the northern corner of the state on the Illinois border that was expected to go heavily in Obama's favor — held up the reporting of all of the county's votes until its 11,300-plus absentee ballots were tabulated. The unusually long wait for the absentee tally sparked talk among CNN commentators that lawyers for both campaigns will likely be looking at the Indiana vote for any irregularities. But by 1:15, with 99 percent of the votes reported, the network projected that Clinton would win the state by 51 to 49 percent, or fewer than 23,000 votes. A total of 218 delegates were up for grabs in the two contests, the biggest one-day delegate haul left in the primary season, and Clinton said she was well aware of how critical these typically afterthought states were in the race. "This primary election on Tuesday is a game-changer," Clinton said, according to CNN. "This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward. The entire country, probably even a lot of the world, is looking." With 99 percent of the vote in, Obama led Clinton in North Carolina by a 56 to 42 percent margin, winning the state by more than 232,000 votes. Looking relaxed and relieved, Obama took the stage shortly after 9 p.m. to thank voters in Raleigh, North Carolina, telling them, "There were those who were saying North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election. Today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, D.C." He congratulated Clinton on what he said appeared to be a victory in Indiana, making sure also to thank his constituents in North Carolina, stressing that it is a "big state" and a "swing state," as a means of rebutting critics who have said he can win neither kind of state. Obama, pointedly backed by a group of white, middle-age women, said the victory put him fewer than 200 delegates away from winning the nomination. Though he referred to Clinton as a "formidable" opponent in the long, closely fought race, he denied that the Democratic Party is "inalterably divided," and that Clinton's supporters would not support him in the general election, or that his supporters would not support her. "I'm here to tell you tonight that I don't believe it," he said. "Yes, there have been bruised feelings on each side. Yes, each side desperately wants their candidate to win. But ultimately, this race is not about Hillary Clinton, it's not about Barack Obama. It's not about John McCain. This election is about you, the American people." After weathering charges that he is an elitist out of touch with working-class Americans, Obama cited his blue-collar upbringing and promised that in the fall, the Democratic Party would march forward together with a common vision for the country. Urging his supporters not to be distracted by the typical divisive issues and distractions that he expects the Republicans will throw at whoever the Democratic nominee is, Obama said, "I didn't get into this race thinking that I could avoid this kind of politics. But I am running for president because this is the time to end it." Looking equally jubilant, Clinton addressed supporters in Indianapolis, Indiana, shortly before 11 p.m. ET, opening with a line about how Obama had predicted that she would win Pennsylvania, he would take North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tiebreaker. "Well ... tonight we've come from behind, we've broken the tie, and thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House," she said, beaming, as husband former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea cheered her on. "We are in many ways on the same journey," she said of herself and Obama. "It's a journey begun long before we were born. It is a journey by men and women who have been on a mission to perfect our union. Who marched and protested. Who risked everything they had to build an America that embraces us all." As she did after her victory in Pennsylvania two weeks ago, Clinton again made a plea for donations to her cash-strapped campaign at the top of her speech. She also addressed the nation's economy. With a number of references to the high price of gas, as well as other economic woes she said have made Americans feel "invisible," Clinton spent the majority of her speech on pocketbook issues and much of the rest making the case for her continued fight for the nomination. "People are watching this race and they're wondering — I win, he wins, I win, he wins — it's so close, and I think that says a lot about how excited and passionate our supporters are, and how intent so many Americans are to really taking their country back," Clinton said, again pledging to work for the Democratic nominee, no matter who it is. The speech ended with a plea to make the so-far untabulated votes from Michigan and Florida part of the final vote count, an issue the Democratic National Committee will take up at month's end. "It would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states," she argued. With Obama rapidly closing the gap in pledged superdelegates and not enough pledged delegates left in the remaining races for Clinton to overtake him at her current rate, the New York senator would have to win an improbable 70 percent of the vote in the final five primaries and one caucus to catch up to Obama, who leads her in both pledged delegates and the popular vote. As it stands now, neither Democrat is likely to win the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination by June 3, the date of the final primary in South Dakota, so it will likely fall on the 796 superdelegates — governors, party officials and members of Congress — to decide the race. The candidates had been in a dead heat in Indiana until last week, when Clinton began to pull ahead in polling. Obama was expected to feel the effects of a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the Hoosier State's photo-ID law, which could have made it difficult for some younger voters without official Indiana driver's licenses or state ID cards to cast their ballots. The Indiana primary held a prize of 84 delegates, while North Carolina promised 134. The win in North Carolina was the first big one for Obama since his victory in Mississippi in March. As they crisscrossed both states over the past two weeks, the candidates were mostly civil, though they repeatedly exchanged fire over Clinton's support for a summer repeal of the 18-cent-per-gallon federal gas tax, a plan Obama has labeled as pandering for votes and which has drawn poor marks from hundreds of leading economists. The New York Times reported that voters in both states were deluged by a wave of attack ads from both sides that were more intense than any seen so far in the primary season. The peak came with a Clinton ad on Monday that asked the question, "What has happened to Barack Obama?" countered by an Obama ad that parried, "We need honest answers and a president we can trust." The two candidates spent $9.5 million combined in the two states, almost as much as Democratic Senator John Kerry spent on TV ads during the entire 2004 primary season. For Clinton, the potential Indiana win could be a chance to show that she is continuing to turn the tide in what had been a losing battle against Obama and further proof, after her wins in Ohio and Pennsylvania, that she has the ability to take big states by tapping into her base of white, blue-collar supporters, a constituency Obama has struggled to connect with. Obama, who polls suggested was still feeling the ill effects of his break with his controversial former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, was looking for a pair of wins that could prove he is a viable candidate who can win the general election. According to the Times, Clinton's best hope for winning the nomination at this point is to get superdelegates to vote against the pledged delegates after the primaries wrap up on June 3, with the hope that despite trailing Obama in pledged delegates, she can take the lead in the popular vote. The Times reported that Obama currently leads Clinton in the popular vote, 14.8 million to 14.2 million, not counting the votes of Florida and Michigan, whose primary numbers are not being tallied because they pushed their primaries up against party wishes. With only 217 delegates left in the primaries, the candidates go at it again next Tuesday in West Virginia, a state whose makeup appears to favor Clinton. That election will be followed by Kentucky and Oregon on May 20, Puerto Rico on June 1 and Montana and South Dakota on June 3. [This story was originally published at 8:20 p.m. ET on 05.06.08] This report is provided by MTV News
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