Obama prevails in North Carolina, Clinton narrowly carries Indiana

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Hours after Sen. Barrack Obama of Illinois scored a comfortable win in North Carolina's Democratic presidential primary Tuesday, his rival Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York narrowly won Indiana.

Obama beat Clinton with 56-42 percent in North Carolina as 99 percent of precincts had been reported, while Clinton held a narrow 51-49 percent win over Obama in Indiana, with 99 percent of precincts reported.

Before the full results come out, Clinton claimed victory in Indiana at a rally in Indianapolis.

"We've come from behind. We've broken the tide and thanks to you it's full speed on to the White House!" she told supporters.

In North Carolina, Obama promised to press his case for the presidency.

Speaking to supporters in Raleigh, he congratulated Clinton on "what appears to be her victory" in Indiana.

He underscored his win in North Carolina, noting he was less than 200 delegates away from winning the nomination.

"I want to start by congratulating Senator Clinton on her victory in the state of Indiana," he said.

"And I want to thank the people of North Carolina for giving us a victory in a big state, a swing state, and a state where we will compete to win if I am the Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Obama added.

He also called for unity of the Democratic party.

Exit polls in Indiana show about half the voters believed the controversy over racially charged comments by Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was an important factor in their vote.

The polls also show Clinton is continuing to do strongly with working-class white voters, a pivotal group that Obama has been struggling to win over.

Two-thirds of working-class whites are backing Clinton, while blacks are overwhelmingly supporting Obama.

North Carolina and Indiana also held Republican presidential primaries, but John McCain already has clinched the Republican presidential nomination.

Altogether, 187 delegates were on offer in the two states with 115 in North Carolina and 72 in Indiana. After Tuesday, 217 pledged delegates are still available in the remaining six contests before voting ends in a month.

A count conducted by Microsoft and National Broadcasting (MSNBC) gave Obama a total of 1,876 delegates compared to 1,729 for Clinton after Tuesday's contests.

But with neither candidate expected to win the 2,024 delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination by June 3, the end of the primary season, the final decision will most likely fall to the 796 so-called super delegates including Democratic governors, members of Congress and party officials.