By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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RALEIGH, N.C. – North Carolina Democrats handed Barack Obama a decisive victory tonight, following record turnout in the state’s first meaningful presidential primary in recent memory.
Several networks called the race for the Illinois senator when polls closed at 7:30 p.m., based on exit polls and early returns. In Indiana, the day’s other primary, the race was too close to call.
Exit polls in North Carolina showed Obama had 55 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 41 percent.
Though Clinton had closed the gap with Obama in North Carolina during the bruising final two weeks of the campaign, exit polls showed that support from blacks and young college-educated voters allowed him to withstand Clinton’s growing support from white voters.
Obama was the preferred candidate of nine of 10 black voters, both men and women, according to exit polls. African-Americans represented one-third of voters in North Carolina’s primary. Clinton was the favorite of white men and women, but Obama did well enough with whites to deny the New York senator a victory.
As expected, Obama and Clinton’s support also divided along age lines. Obama won all age groups except voters over 60.
At Obama's election-night victory party in Raleigh, his supporters had not yet been admitted to the arena on the campus of North Carolina State University when his win was announced. A large cheer went up from Obama's staff and unpaid volunteers.
Obama’s North Carolina victory is unlikely to do much to change his margin of pledged delegates over Clinton – 1492 to 1338, according to the Associated Press. But how the party’s undeclared superdelegates interpret the outcome likely will affect which candidate they choose for the general election match-up with Republican John McCain.
As of this morning, an AP tally both of pledged delegates won in state contests and committed superdelegates, Obama had 1,745.5 to Clinton’s 1,608.
North Carolina had 115 delegates up for grab in today’s primary and Indiana 72. The delegates will be allocated based on final vote tallies.
The long primary season is nearing an end. West Virginia comes next, followed by Oregon, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Montana and, finally, South Dakota June 3.
Because of the proportional splits, Obama is likely to finish the race with more pledged delegates than Clinton, but not enough to reach the 2,025 delegate threshold needed for the nomination. Then, the contest moves to the superdelegates, party officials who will ultimately pick the winner.
Both campaigns tried to shape the debate about the meaning of the results that began almost as soon as the polls closed by setting low expectations for their performance.
Clinton’s campaign today said it would be "happy" if Clinton lost in North Carolina by less than 15, "thrilled" if she lost by less than 10, and "ecstatic" if she lost by less than 5.
Obama’s campaign, countering, said Monday that it expected an extremely close victory or even a loss in North Carolina. They were likely to treat anything larger than a 5-point win as a victory.
A month ago, North Carolina’s primary was shaping up to be a dull affair. Obama sported leads in the high teens in late March polls. By the end, though, it became one of the hardest-fought contests of the long Democratic primary season.
In late April, a controversy over comments by Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, helped Clinton cut the deficit to high single digits. By last week, her surging popularity with blue-collar whites, who supported her proposed gas tax holiday, trimmed Obama’s lead further.
Both candidates spent heavily in North Carolina and repeatedly traveled across the state, especially in the closing days. Obama visited colleges and spoke before crowds filled with young voters and African Americans. Clinton aggressively went after white, blue-collar voters, dispatching her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to dozens of tiny North Carolina towns.
Bill Clinton hit 15 small towns over the weekend in a marathon session of front porch speeches notable even for one of the nation’s most tireless campaigners. He continued with five more stops Tuesday, including a visit to Winston-Salem.
Even as Democratic voters went to the polls today, the general election campaign crept into North Carolina. Republican John McCain, already assured victory in the state’s Republican primary, visited Wake Forest University to discuss his philosophy for appointing judges, attacking both Obama and Clinton in the process.
Several networks called the race for the Illinois senator when polls closed at 7:30 p.m., based on exit polls and early returns. In Indiana, the day’s other primary, the race was too close to call.
Exit polls in North Carolina showed Obama had 55 percent of the vote to Clinton’s 41 percent.
Though Clinton had closed the gap with Obama in North Carolina during the bruising final two weeks of the campaign, exit polls showed that support from blacks and young college-educated voters allowed him to withstand Clinton’s growing support from white voters.
Obama was the preferred candidate of nine of 10 black voters, both men and women, according to exit polls. African-Americans represented one-third of voters in North Carolina’s primary. Clinton was the favorite of white men and women, but Obama did well enough with whites to deny the New York senator a victory.
As expected, Obama and Clinton’s support also divided along age lines. Obama won all age groups except voters over 60.
At Obama's election-night victory party in Raleigh, his supporters had not yet been admitted to the arena on the campus of North Carolina State University when his win was announced. A large cheer went up from Obama's staff and unpaid volunteers.
Obama’s North Carolina victory is unlikely to do much to change his margin of pledged delegates over Clinton – 1492 to 1338, according to the Associated Press. But how the party’s undeclared superdelegates interpret the outcome likely will affect which candidate they choose for the general election match-up with Republican John McCain.
As of this morning, an AP tally both of pledged delegates won in state contests and committed superdelegates, Obama had 1,745.5 to Clinton’s 1,608.
North Carolina had 115 delegates up for grab in today’s primary and Indiana 72. The delegates will be allocated based on final vote tallies.
The long primary season is nearing an end. West Virginia comes next, followed by Oregon, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Montana and, finally, South Dakota June 3.
Because of the proportional splits, Obama is likely to finish the race with more pledged delegates than Clinton, but not enough to reach the 2,025 delegate threshold needed for the nomination. Then, the contest moves to the superdelegates, party officials who will ultimately pick the winner.
Both campaigns tried to shape the debate about the meaning of the results that began almost as soon as the polls closed by setting low expectations for their performance.
Clinton’s campaign today said it would be "happy" if Clinton lost in North Carolina by less than 15, "thrilled" if she lost by less than 10, and "ecstatic" if she lost by less than 5.
Obama’s campaign, countering, said Monday that it expected an extremely close victory or even a loss in North Carolina. They were likely to treat anything larger than a 5-point win as a victory.
A month ago, North Carolina’s primary was shaping up to be a dull affair. Obama sported leads in the high teens in late March polls. By the end, though, it became one of the hardest-fought contests of the long Democratic primary season.
In late April, a controversy over comments by Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, helped Clinton cut the deficit to high single digits. By last week, her surging popularity with blue-collar whites, who supported her proposed gas tax holiday, trimmed Obama’s lead further.
Both candidates spent heavily in North Carolina and repeatedly traveled across the state, especially in the closing days. Obama visited colleges and spoke before crowds filled with young voters and African Americans. Clinton aggressively went after white, blue-collar voters, dispatching her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to dozens of tiny North Carolina towns.
Bill Clinton hit 15 small towns over the weekend in a marathon session of front porch speeches notable even for one of the nation’s most tireless campaigners. He continued with five more stops Tuesday, including a visit to Winston-Salem.
Even as Democratic voters went to the polls today, the general election campaign crept into North Carolina. Republican John McCain, already assured victory in the state’s Republican primary, visited Wake Forest University to discuss his philosophy for appointing judges, attacking both Obama and Clinton in the process.