Barack Obama swept to victory in the North Carolina primary Tuesday night and declared that he was closing in on the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Rodham Clinton, meanwhile, won a narrow victory in Indiana by two percentage points, 50 to 49 percent.

Returns from 99 percent of North Carolina precincts showed Obama winning 56 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Clinton, a triumph that mirrored his earlier wins in Southern states with large black populations.

That made Indiana a virtual must-win Midwestern contest for the former first lady, who was hoping to counter Obama's persistent delegate advantage with a strong run through the late primaries. Returns from 92 percent of the state's precincts showed Clinton with 51 percent of the vote to 49 percent for Obama.

"Tonight we stand less than 200 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States," Obama told a raucous rally in Raleigh, North Carolina -- and left no doubt he intended to claim the prize.

He called his North Carolina primary win on Tuesday a victory against the "politics of division and the politics of distraction."

Obama told North Carolina supporters in Raleigh that he was able to overcome negative politicking that is all about scoring points and not about solving problems. He said Americans "aren't looking for more spin; they're looking for honest answers."

With his wife Michelle looking on, Obama savored his victory in North Carolina and called attention to claims by the Clinton campaign that the North Carolina race would be a "game-changer."

"But today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, DC.," said the first-term Illinois senator.

Clinton's deflating split decision Tuesday took away her last best chance at the White House. A resounding loss in North Carolina, combined with her narrow Indiana victory, has dented if not doomed her hopes of convincing superdelegates to disregard Obama's lead in delegates, states won and popular vote and nominate her.

Still, she told cheering supporters in Indianapolis Tuesday night, "Thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House," signaling her determination to fight on in a campaign already waged across more than 15 months and nearly all 50 states.

"Sen. Clinton did not get out of the night what she needed," said North Carolina Rep. Brad Miller, an undecided superdelegate. "To use a basketball analogy, she traded baskets. And she needed to do much better than that this late in the contest, with her down 150 or 160 pledged delegates."

Obama came into the race at a low point, reeling from his former minister Jeremiah Wright's racially divisive remarks and a blistering loss in Pennsylvania that raised questions about whether he can win white voters. Clinton had momentum and devoted her scarce funds and precious time to turning around a long-anticipated Obama win in North Carolina.

Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African-American Policy at the University of Denver, said North Carolina is a "significant and loud win" for Obama, particularly in the wake of damaging weeks where so much focus was placed on the Wright issue.

"In a way, his performance suggests that the Wright controversy didn't resonate as much as expected with voters, particularly white voters," Groff told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "Any doubt over Obama's ability to handle the Wright controversy has been erased, with the superdelegates on the sidelines possibly impressed and stunned by this candidate's ability to take a beating of campaign-ending proportions."

"Tonight's strong showing by Obama greatly diminishes Clinton's Pennsylvania surge, and it also shows that he was able to deflect Sen. Clinton's economic policy "gas tax" gimmick," Groff said.

Donna Brazile, a Democratic political strategist and a super delegate, said on CNN Tuesday that she hopes the Democratic party comes together after a rough-and-tumble campaign to rally around the nominee.

Obama acknowledged that there were "bruised feelings on both sides" in the marathon fight for the Democratic nomination. "Each side desperately wants their candidate to win."

Still, he said, "This fall, we intend to march forward as one Democratic Party, united by a common vision for this country."

"We can't afford to give John McCain the chance to serve out George Bush's third term," he said.

Race again played a pivotal role, as whites in Indiana and North Carolina leaned solidly toward Clinton, and blacks voted overwhelmingly for Obama, exit polls showed. Almost half of both black and whites polled said they were influenced by the focus on Wright.

Earlier Tuesday, Obama was asked about the difficulty he has had in connecting with blue-collar workers, particularly white men, in states in the industrial Midwest like Indiana that will be important in the fall elections.

"It's really a mixed bag," he said. "There've been some states where we have won the blue-collar vote. Wisconsin. We won it in Iowa. We won it in Minnesota. Then there are other states where we've not done so well, mainly because people are much more familiar with Sen. Clinton and President Clinton and their track record."

"You have to give them credit. They're the best established brand name in Democratic politics, maybe in politics overall. They've been on the scene for 20 years. They're not going to go down easy."

Although he failed to gain ground with working-class whites, Obama pieced together a coalition that, besides blacks, included the young, first-time primary voters, the very liberal and college graduates, plus sizable minorities of whites.

"The America we know and the America we believe in seems to understand that our America is ready for change," Craig Kirby, a Democratic political strategist, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Tuesday night.

"I am glad Sen. Obama has shared with all of America that though we are of different cultures, religions and socio-economic backgrounds, we all can feel pain, hurt and despair, yet we all share basic needs of security and the pursuits of happiness," he said.

Roland Martin, a CNN political analyst, said Clinton’s challenge will be to continue her fund raising efforts and convince her donors to keep the money flowing into her campaigns. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin maintained on CNN that Clinton will try to get Michigan and Florida delegates on the agenda. "That’s the one place to go ..." he said, "to make it a horse race."

Meanwhile, Clinton canceled all of her appearances on television news programs scheduled for Wednesday.

Clinton and Obama both said the former first lady would win Indiana. At press time, thousands of votes were yet to be counted, principally in Lake County, not far from Obama's home city of Chicago. 

Obama won at least 94 delegates in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. Clinton won at least 75 delegates, with 18 still to be awarded.

Sixteen of the outstanding delegates were from North Carolina and two were from Indiana.

In the overall race for the nomination, Obama led with 1,840.5 delegates, including separately chosen party and elected officials known as superdelegates. Clinton had 1,684.

Obama was 184.5 delegates shy of the 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination.

There are 217 delegates at stake in the final six contests. Also, about 270 superdelegates are yet to be claimed.

Superdelegates are the party and elected officials who will automatically attend the national convention and can support whomever they choose, regardless of what happens in the primaries and caucuses.

Obama is on pace to reach a majority of the pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses in two weeks, when Kentucky and Oregon vote. Obama had a 171-delegate lead among pledged delegates.

Obama has argued for months that superdelegates should support the candidate who wins the most pledged delegates. Clinton argues that superdelegates should exercise independent judgment.

Clinton leads in superdelegate endorsements, 270.5 to 256, though Obama has been chipping away at her lead since the Super Tuesday contests on Feb. 5. Both candidates picked up a superdelegate endorsement Tuesday.

The economy was the top issue by far in both North Carolina and Indiana, according to exit interviews.

Two weeks after a decisive defeat in Pennsylvania, Obama sounded increasingly like he was looking forward to the fall campaign.

"This primary season may not be over, but when it is, we will have to remember who we are as Democrats ... 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 George Bush's third term."

Clinton was joined at her rally by her husband Bill, his face sunburned after hours spent campaigning in small-town North Carolina, and their daughter, Chelsea.

She stressed the issue that came to dominate the final days of the primaries in both states, her call for a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax. "I think it's time to give Americans a break this summer," she said.

She added that no matter who wins the epic race for the nomination, "I will work for the nominee of this party" in the fall campaign against the Republicans. To emphasize her determination, Clinton announced plans to campaign Thursday in West Virginia, South Dakota and Oregon, three of the remaining primary states.

Clinton saved her candidacy with her win in Pennsylvania, and she campaigned aggressively in Indiana in hopes of denying Obama a victory next door to his home state of Illinois. Indiana is home to large numbers of blue-collar workers who have been attracted to the former first lady, and she sought to use her call for a federal gas tax holiday to draw them and other economically pinched voters closer.

Inevitably, the issue quickly took on larger dimensions.

Obama said it symbolized a candidacy consisting of "phony ideas, calculated to win elections instead of actually solving problems."

Clinton retorted, "Instead of attacking the problem, he's attacking my solutions," and ran an ad in the campaign's final hours that said she "gets it."

The balance of the primary schedule includes West Virginia, with 28 delegates on May 13; Oregon with 52 and Kentucky with 51 a week later; Puerto Rico with 55 delegates on June 1, and Montana with 16 and South Dakota with 15 on June 3.