Heavy support from Charlotte and the Triangle swept Sen. Barack Obama to a lopsided victory in North Carolina's Democratic primary Tuesday, widening his delegate edge as the long primary season nears an end.
Obama effectively held serve in a state he was expected to win despite a strong final push by Sen. Hillary Clinton. He was leading 56 percent to 42 percent with 98 percent of precincts reporting.
The Illinois senator won 91 percent of African American voters while capturing just over a third of white votes, according to CNN exit polls. He scored his biggest margins among voters under 29, but also carried middle-aged voters. He took 54 percent of women's votes.
"There are those who were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer," he told supporters at a victory celebration in Raleigh. "Today, what North Carolina decided is the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, D.C."
Clinton eked out a win in Indiana as she struggled to halt her rival's march into history. But Obama's N.C. victory added to his overall lead in pledged convention delegates and could sway uncommitted superdelegates. None of the six remaining contests offer as many delegates as either state.
Obama, who suffered a series of losses in primaries in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, characterized his N.C. win as "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."
No Democratic presidential candidate has carried North Carolina since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Sen. John McCain, the expected Republican nominee, was at Wake Forest University Tuesday outlining his judicial philosophy. Obama foreshadowed a fall campaign against him and what he called "the failed policies of the past." McCain has said voters will get a stark choice.
Who supported whom
From Charlotte to Raleigh, Obama piled up big margins in urban counties along the I-85 and I-40 corridors, as well as in rural, northeast counties. He carried predominantly white Mecklenburg precincts in areas such as Eastover, Myers Park and Davidson.Clinton won suburban counties such as Gaston and Iredell and most western counties.
Half of N.C. voters said the ability to bring change was the most important attribute they looked for in a candidate, while just one out of five cited experience, according to exit polls.
"The last eight years have been kind of rough," said Charlotte voter Ben Brooks, a 28-year-old sports marketer. "I just think he provides the best opportunity for change and getting our country to where it needs to be."
N.C. polls tightened after inflammatory remarks by Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Exit polls showed the controversy was important to nearly half the voters. Most of those chose Clinton.
But most voters dismissed the controversy.
"(Clinton) gave him such a hard time about Rev. Wright, and they just kept it going on and on," said Charlotte voter Avella Bessent, 64.
Exit polls showed Obama won two-thirds of those who said they were voting for the first time. Clinton had a narrow edge among independent voters, who will be a major target of Democrats and Republicans this fall.
Race had tightened
For two weeks, Obama and Clinton and their spouses commuted between Indiana and North Carolina. Former President Clinton alone stumped in 54 N.C. towns courting the same white, rural and working-class voters that proved the key to his wife's victories in states such as Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Recent polls showed Hillary Clinton had sliced the 25-point lead Obama enjoyed less than three weeks ago to single digits.
Though Obama's win could steer more superdelegates his way, one, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, apparently will throw his support to Clinton. That's because she appeared to carry the counties in his 11th District, and he vowed to support whomever won his district.
Earlier Tuesday, Obama spent half an hour or so courting votes in downtown Raleigh, where he and his wife stopped by a bar called The Raleigh Times. Somebody handed her a pint of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
"Where's my beer?" Obama asked.
Given a PBR, he held it up, said "Cheers!" and quickly took a sip.
Exit polls showed 9 percent of Democratic voters didn't make up their minds until Tuesday. One was Charlotte's Rob Carr, who changed his in the voting booth.
"I went in there thinking I was going to vote for Hillary," said Carr, a contractor. "I just started thinking about the electability issue. I think he can actually pull it off."
The delegate count
Obama won at least 57 delegates and Clinton at least 48 on Tuesday. That widens Obama's lead to 1,802.5 to 1,656 in The Associated Press count. A total of 2,025 are needed to win the nomination. Barack and Michelle Obama celebrate at N.C. State's Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh on Tuesday.
