INDIANAPOLIS – Illinois Senator Barack Obama has the Democratic presidential nomination firmly within his sights today after scoring a huge victory in North Carolina and battling challenger Hillary Clinton almost evenly in Indiana.(Africa Headlines: Zimbabwe Crisis: Real or Feigned? Click Link for More)
Following two of the toughest weeks of his 15-month campaign, Obama regained his footing, denying the former first lady the game-changing sweep she had sought in the last big voting day in this marathon race.
The margin of Obama's North Carolina win, about 14 points, will weaken Clinton's bid to keep the party's uncommitted super delegates, who will ultimately decide the nominee, from breaking to Obama and putting an end to a race which has proved both exhausting and worrying to the party elite.
Clinton needed a win in Indiana to survive and she was declared the winner early this morning.
The victory could have been academic, however. This was Obama's night.
"Some were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election," Obama said, tossing Clinton's own appraisal back at her.
"But today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, D.C."
He told his supporters he is within 200 delegates of becoming the party's nominee.
With Indiana still unresolved, Clinton met supporters here and vowed to go "full speed ahead to the White House" in a race with six contests looming.
But there was an air of reconciliation as the two spoke to supporters in different parts of the nation, suggesting a change in tone based on the night's results, which were clearly a setback for the former first lady.
When she said she would work with the party's nominee "no matter what happens," there was clear disappointment in the room and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, looked distracted and crestfallen as his wife spoke.Clinton said all Democrats were on the same journey.
"People are watching this race, and they're wondering, I win, he wins, I win, he wins. It's so close," she said.