Networks Call North Carolina for Obama

By LARRY ROHTER and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
New York Times

Senator Barack Obama appeared poised to capture a decisive victory in the North Carolina primary on Tuesday, fending off a challenge from his opponent, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was leading in the night’s other contest in Indiana.

The television networks and The Associated Press projected that Mr. Obama would win the North Carolina fight shortly after polls closed at 7:30 p.m.

A decisive win in the state may help Mr. Obama revive his campaign’s momentum after a series of recent stumbles involving the negative coverage of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

But a victory in Indiana would allow Mrs. Clinton — now an unlikely underdog — to continue her campaign into the final rounds of the Democratic nominating fight.

In Indiana, Mrs. Clinton had 57 percent of the vote to Mr. Obama’s 43 percent, with 16 percent of precincts reporting. But that margin appears likely to narrow as more votes are counted, especially from the area near Chicago, where the Illinois senator is considered a favorite, and from Indianapolis.

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