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RALEIGH, North Carolina: Barack Obama declared himself within
striking distance of the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday
after trouncing Hillary Clinton in North Carolina, while the latter
eked out a slim win in Indiana.
In North Carolina, Obama romped home by 56
percent to 42, and used his victory speech here to cast himself as
the Democrats’ heir apparent for the November election against
Republican John McCain. Well after midnight, hours after the North
Carolina result, the former First Lady held on to take Indiana by a
victory margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.
“Tonight, we stand less than 200 delegates
away from securing the Democratic nomination for President of the
United States,” he told thousands of pumped-up supporters.
“This fall, we intend to march forward as one
Democratic Party, united by a common vision for this country,”
Obama said.
“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 [President] George W. Bush’s third
term.”
Before flying out of Indiana to Washington, as
television networks were still agonizing over the rust-belt state,
Clinton proclaimed victory there and said it was “full speed on to
the White House.”
“But I can assure you, as I have said on many
occasions that no matter what happens, I will work for the nominee
of the Democratic Party, because we must win in November,” she
added.
Obama was a clear winner Tuesday, besting
Clinton by more than 200,000 votes between the two primaries and
picking up a net gain of 13 delegates to the party’s August
convention where 2,025 are needed for the nomination.
He also boosted his case among the nearly 800
“superdelegates,” party grandees who are free to vote for either
candidate and hold the key to the tightest nomination race in a
generation.
With Obama holding a 1,842 to 1,692 edge in
elected delegates, Clinton is running out of road. Only six
primaries, with a total of 217 delegates at stake, remain between
now and June 3.
Exit polls from Tuesday’s votes said Obama,
buffeted by weeks of controversy over racially tinged remarks by his
former pastor, had won over more than one-third of white voters in
North Carolina.
He also scored well with voters in terms of his
identifying with their values, suggesting he had deflected
Clinton’s accusation that he is an “elitist” out of touch with
blue-collar voters.
As analysts questioned Clinton’s viability in
the Democratic race, aides to the New York senator denied a Drudge
Report story that she was convening a crisis meeting on Wednesday
with select superdelegates.
“There is no crisis meeting with
superdelegates,” Clinton Spokesman Mo Elleithee said. “This is
just another day of meetings with superdelegates as part of our
normal outreach.”
-- AFP
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