From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The Obama campaign annoucned three superdelegates -- Jeanette Council (NC); Jerry Meek (NC) and Inola Henry (CA) -- have pledged support. AP is reporting one more, a switch from Clinton in Virginia, Jennifer McClellan. (We're working to confirm that and will update.)

The Delegate Counts:
PLEDGED: Obama 1,588-1,422
SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 273.5-259
OVERALL: 1,847-1.695.5

* Obama is 178 from the Magic Number of 2,025.
* There are 262.5 undeclared superdelegates, including about 50 who are not yet named and will be added on at state conventions or the like.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Compare Clinton today to Huckabee in February, and it's worth noting the similarities as this continues. Similar statements on math and notice GOP operative saying it's OK for Huckabee to stay in the race, "as long as Mike Huckabee stays positive." 

But, it must be pointed out, that Clinton still has a FAR greater claim to this nomination than Mike Huckabee ever did, which is why Huckabee's hanging on became the stuff of Saturday Night Live. Just pointing out some similar language...

(1) CLINTON (today at West Virginia news conference):
QUESTION: Does your statement today mean that you intend to stay in this race through the vote on the convention floor?

CLINTON: Well, I'm staying in this race until there's a nominee. And I obviously am going to work as hard as I can to become that nominee. That is what I've done; that's what I'm continuing to do.

I believe that I'm the stronger candidate against Senator McCain. And I believe I would be the best president among the three of us running. So we will continue to contest these elections and move forward.

(2) HUCKABEE ON STAYING IN THE RACE
FEB. 12 (CNN): "As long as my guys are still waving their pompoms, I think we're going to stay on the field. The goal is still to win ... Everybody keeps talking about, 'Well, the math doesn't work.' We don't know what is going to happen. You don't just throw people's votes out and say, 'Well, we're not going to bother counting them because we kind of think we know where this was going."

Feb. 13 (FOX): "Well, the game may be for us to go to the convention, if nobody gets 1,191 delegates, and that's still a possibility. Until someone gets that magic number, we still have an election process, and there is no nominee. Once that happens, we've got a nominee, and it's time to rally around him. And so if that's not me, then we'll rally around who it is. But if we don't have one and we go to the convention, then we'll make the decision at that convention, and the delegates will decide. I'll have as good a chance as anybody."

Feb. 25 (Local TV): "If John McCain doesn't get 1,191 confirmed, committed, pledged delegates, then there is no nominee officially until we get to the convention. And when we get to the convention, all bets are off and many of the delegates can do what they wish." But, he added, "Now it's possible that he'll get there. And if he does, then so be it."

"I've always said it depends on the delegate count, and until somebody has captured 1,191 pledged delegates that's required to be the nominee, there's still a contest going on," Huckabee said.

(3) Note another similarity, GOP operatives saying, 'As long as Mike Huckabee stays positive' it's fine for him to stay in: "As long as Mike Huckabee stays positive, and as long as he does not stimulate a third-party challenge from the right in the fall, Mike Huckabee staying in could actually help John McCain," said GOP pollster Whit Ayres.

From NBC's Ron Allen
There was a very interesting discussion on the flight back to D.C. from Indianapolis. By the time we landed, the Clinton campaign was proclaiming, "We shocked the world" by winning Indiana. "A win is a win," was the rallying cry, as the margin narrowed.

Meanwhile, the Clinton press team did everything possible to minimize Barack Obama's win in North Carolina. He has a "built-in advantage" there, they said. It was a state where they knew the "demographics" were going to be tough, referring the state's African-American community. Turns out, his margin overall was greater than her's in Pennsylvania.
 
But Clinton's aides continue to argue she's the stronger nominee, because she continues to do well with the most important voters, crucial swing voters, who will make the difference in a race with John McCain in November, blue-collar and working-class voters, most of whom are white.

But how does a candidate claim to be the strongest and most electable nominee, when that candidate has very little support with some of the Democratic Party's most loyal followers, African-American voters? Wouldn't it be fair to say that ignoring that "demographic" tends to marginalize the significance of those voters, who also historically have felt somewhat taken for granted by Democrats?

When asked about the fact that Obama had won a significant, and apparently growing segment of the African-American community's votes, the response from Clinton's aides was to suggest that, by November, she would be able to heal whatever problems existed. And that she would be able to unite the party, in part, because of the Clinton family's many decades of such a positive record on matters of race and civil rights.
 
But when asked, well, wouldn't Obama enjoy the support of the segments of the Democratic electorate that have voted for Clinton -- those working-class white voters, the answer was full of doubt and concern. He's relatively new on the political scene. He's not very well known and doesn't have much of a track record, was the essence of their argument. Who knows what might happen?
 
A few weeks ago, Rep. James Clyburn (SC) made several comments laying out his observations about the Clintons' relationship with the African-American community. Let's just say it's not good, he basically said. And I think most reasonable people would say, the decreasing share of the black vote falling in the Clinton camp of late suggests that relationship is probably not improving.
 
Here's the point. To win the nomination now, the Clinton strategy, moving on to West Virginia and Kentucky and elsewhere, seems to have little to do with winning over African-American voters.

"We're not conceding any vote," spokesmen often say in conference calls. Yet the places the campaign goes and the people at the events, don't seem to support that contention.

This is a unique moment in the nation's electoral history for many reasons. The black electorate has been flexing its muscle. Today, Clinton's advisors argued that Obama hasn't proven he can win the votes of blue-collar voters, and that's the crux of the argument they'll make to the dwindling pool of undecided superdelegates.

But don't they also have to explain how they'll win over those Democrats now supporting her in single digits, especially since many of them already are convinced a historic victory, unimaginable not long ago, already has been won?

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler is throwing his superdelegate endorsement to Clinton. Note that Shuler said he would back whomever won his congressional district. Clinton was widely expected to win the district (CD-11), which borders Tennesse. She did so -- by 13 points.

Shuler is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress and won election to CD-11 as part of the Democratic wave in 2006 .

The Delegate Counts:
PLEDGED: Obama 1,588-1,422
SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 273.5-256
OVERALL: 1,844-1.695.5

From NBC's Mark Murray
In its own conference call with reporters this morning, the Obama campaign and some of its key surrogates argued that the results from last night's contests marked the beginning of the end of the Democratic race.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe noted that Obama is now -- per the campaign's numbers -- just 33 pledged delegates away from obtaining a majority of all pledged delegates, and Obama will hit that mark after the May 20 contests (Oregon and Kentucky), which Plouffe said would be significant day for the campaign. Plouffe also noted that Obama is just 172 total delegates (pledged and super) away from hitting the 2,025 magic number. "We can see the finish line here," he said.

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry added that last night's contests in Indiana and North Carolina "fundamentally changed this race."

Obama "clearly did more than he had to, and she did not achieve what she had to," he said. "Despite the toughest weeks of his campaign … he beat every poll and he beat every expectation."

Also, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano -- while acknowledging that it's Clinton decision alone to remain or withdraw from the Democratic race -- urged undeclared superdelegates  to announce their intentions soon, so the Democrats can begin pivoting to the general election. "It is now time for the superdelegates to bring this process to a close."

Obama camp calling on superdelegates to take sides
NBC/NJ's Athena Jones reports
A day after Obama won big in the last Top 10 state (in size) of North Carolina and lost narrowly in Indiana, his campaign manager and several backers held a conference call to urge superdelegates to pick sides and end this protracted nomination fight

On the call led by Campaign Manager David Plouffe, were Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Govs. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) and Deval Patrick (D-MA).

Plouffe said their count showed Obama with a pledged delegate lead of 172, the largest it's been in the campaign, and said he was now within 172 delegates of winning the nomination.

"It's a high-water mark," he said. "There's only 217 pledged delegates left. We're only 33 pledged delegates from achieving a majority of the pledged delegates. That will happen on the night of May 20th, which we think will be an incredibly important moment in the campaign when Sen. Obama clinches the majority of the delegates, which is the expression of the will of the voters in these contests."

Plouffe said the Rev. Jeremiah Wright issue had received more media attention than Hillary Clinton last week and that even at the height of that controversy, Obama had managed to lead the New York senator in superdelegate endorsements 2-to-1. "We can see the finish line," he said.

Napolitano said it was time for superdelegates to step up: "It is now time for the superdelegates to begin bringing this process to a close and announcing their preference."

Kerry said Obama had beat expectations. "The very tight finish in Indiana and his huge win in North Carolina have fundamentally changed this race," he said. "The bottom line: he clearly did more than he had to and she did not achieve what she had to. You know, Barack was expected by all accounts to lose Indiana by a sizable margin and she had the support of the biggest political name and family in the state who put everything on the line and despite the toughest weeks of his campaign and the most thorough testing that you could have imagined with not the ideal dynamics going into either of these primaries, he beat every poll and he beat every single expectation."

The Massachusetts senator said he believed Obama would have won in Indiana if Republicans had not voted for Clinton at the urging of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh.

On Florida and Michigan
Plouffe said he hoped to reach a resolution that both sides could agree on regarding the seating of Michigan and Florida delegates but that "It's just not gonna happen that Michigan and Florida will be used in some way to overturn the results of these other primaries and caucuses."

Kerry said he thought the matter would be resolved before the convention. "I do not believe that we are going to be going to Denver with credentials fights or with a lack of resolution. I am convinced that over the course of the next weeks, the superdelegates are gonna exercise their judgment and responsibility," he said. "Ultimately I think that the superdelegates will render the issue of Michigan and Florida moot."

On unity
Plouffe and Obama's supporters, repeating what has become a mantra in both candidate's camps, said the party would come together to win the general election, with Kerry focusing on the long period of time between June and November.

Patrick and Klobuchar said Obama had down-ticket appeal that could help Democrats running for Congress, Klobuchar said he done well by connecting with middle class voters in last night's contests and McCaskill noted the senator's strength with independent voters and his improved showing with groups like Catholics, white women and union households and said he had done well because voters trusted him.

The Missouri senator said in response to a question that no one would be calling for Clinton to bow out, a sentiment echoed by Napolitano and Klobuchar.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Many of the arguments the Clinton campaign has been making on how their candidate should win the nomination have fallen away this morning.

Popular votes and Michigan-Florida have been the stuff of talking points and conference calls from the Clinton campaign for months. But on today's day-after "State of the Race" call, those arguments as selling points to superdelegates have lost steam.

The popular vote
After Pennsylvania, the new talking point from the New York senator was that she was then winning the popular vote, that more voters had voted for her than anyone in the history of Democratic primaries. The only way that was true was if Florida and Michigan counted, and in Michigan, Obama was given zero votes, a hard sell to superdelegates to begin with.

That is no longer the case. Obama erased her Pennsylvania popular vote gains with his more than 230,000-vote victory in North Carolina -- even with those zero votes.

Michigan and Florida
The hope for the Clinton camp was that by seating the delegates from Michigan and Florida, it could substantially cut into Obama's pledged delegate lead and overtake him in the popular vote. Neither looks possible now -- even if the campaign get the delegates seated based on the voting from those primaries. The campaign hopes it could get the pledged lead under 100 or close to it by seating those delegates the way it would want, spokesman Phil Singer said.

The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee on May 31 "will consider two challenges," Singer said. "We believe RBC will seat those delegates."

But Singer acknowledged that neither of the two challenges the RBC will take up calls for delegates from Michigan and Florida to be seated in the way the campaign would most like -- with a net of 58 delegates. (Currently, by the NBC count, Obama leads by 166 pledged delegates. So even with the 58 delegates, Clinton would not get under 100. Potentially with blowouts in West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico, it's possible.)

What's left?
"I dispute that it's a nullification strategy," said Clinton strategist Geoff Garin, "because that suggests some delegates have more votes than others. …The rules of the party anticipate there will be people who've watched the process from beginning to end and make a good faith judgment on what's best on behalf of the party and country."

The only hope is to convince undeclared superdelegates that Hillary Clinton has the winning coalition for November, that she is more electable than Barack Obama and is polling better than him against John McCain in swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Hillary Clinton will make her case this afternoon on Capitol Hill in a meeting with undeclared elected superdelegates. It might be her last chance.

NOTE: The spin on the results last night… the campaign says it was down 8 points in Indiana 10 days ago. Aides called her win there a "significant accomplishment," considering how Obama has done in other states neighboring Illinois. "It was a good victory under challenging circumstances," Garin said. …The campaign added that Obama had called Indiana a "tiebreaker." … They congratulated Obama on his win in North Carolina, but gave this caveat… "North Carolina does also represent progress for us," Garin said, citing that they had done better with white voters last night than they had seen in internal polls earlier. …

Going forward, spokesman Howard Wolfson billed West Virginia as a "critically important key swing state in November" and a "critical test." He added that Clinton predicted she would win West Virginia in the fall if she's the nominee. …

The argument left to superdelegates: Clinton would be a better candidate against McCain;  Obama can't win blue-collar voters; he hasn't proven he can win swing states (though they don't mention Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia and Colorado). …

As far as money drying up, the campaign sees Clinton's $11 million in loans to the campaign as her "commitment" to remaining competitive. There were also no proclamations of how much money had been raised after last night's Indiana win, like the claimed $3.5 million in 24 hours after Pennsylvania en route to $10 million, which the campaign says it did raise.

QUOTABLE: "What are the rules of this? … There are no rules." -- Geoff Garin, Clinton strategist.

(The context of this was Garin saying, "I expect that when we get to June 3rd, we'll have a very close result, raising the question of how close is close. It's a little hard to tell with Michigan and Florida." He added that party leaders and elected officials do not have to "follow the pledged delegates. What are the rules of this?" He asked, do they have to vote their district, their state? "There are no rules. It's about what's in the best interest of the party."

From NBC's Andrea Mitchell and Mark Murray
This morning's big campaign news comes from the AP: "Clinton has lent her presidential campaign $6.4 million over the past month, a campaign aide says. The money more than doubles Clinton's personal investment in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She gave her campaign $5 million earlier this year."

Per a Clinton campaign conference call (more on that in a few minutes), here's the breakdown of that $6.4 million:
-- $5 million on April 11
-- $1 million on May 1
-- $425,000 on May 5

The total that she has loaned her campaign so far is $11.425 million.

Legally, the campaign said on the call, Clinton is entitled to use up to 50% of the couple's jointly held assets for her campaign. Communications director Howard Wolfson confirmed that she has made a total of about $11 million on her books and Senate salary, acknowledging that her loans now exceed everything she has earned as an individual.

Wolfson also wouldn't rule out her loaning the campaign additional resources.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
NBC News has allocated more pledged delegates for last night's contests. The latest:

INDIANA: Clinton 37-33 (2 remain to be allocated)
NORTH CAROLINA: Obama 63-47 (5 remain to be allocated)

The Delegate Counts:
PLEDGED: Obama 1,588-1,422
SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 272.5-256 (266.5 undeclared)
OVERALL: Obama 1,844-1.694.5

This would put Obama within 181 of the 2,025 magic number. (This, of course, does not include Florida and Michigan.)

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro
*** The game-changer: In a way, Clinton turned out to be prescient when she said that the North Carolina and Indiana contests would be a game-changer in the race for the Democratic nomination. What changed, however, was the story that Obama -- even though leading by every metric -- was on the defensive after losing Pennsylvania and after weeks of Jeremiah Wright and "bitter." But in winning North Carolina last night, his margin of victory (more than 230,000) was even larger than the amount that Clinton won Pennsylvania by (about 215,000). In fact, when you combine Clinton's narrow victory in Indiana and Obama's much larger one in the Tar Heel State, he ALMOST netted more votes than Clinton obtained from Pennsylvania. In short, we're right back to where we were on April 21, and that's something that won't be lost among Democratic superdelegates, especially after two weeks dominated by Wright.

*** The new math: Another thing that last night did was kill the Clinton's campaign's two best talking points. First, the popular vote: After last night, Obama now leads Clinton by more than 700,000 (16,050,924 vs. 15,336,896). When you include Florida, Obama leads by 419,256, and when you include both Florida and Michigan (and don't give Obama "uncommitted"), his lead is 90,947. And here's what's left in our pop vote simulator
    Total votes     Clinton       Obama  Split
WV: 400,000  240,000  160,000  60-40
KY: 500,000  300,000  200,000  60-40
OR: 600,000  270,000  330,000  45-55
SD: 100,000  45,000  55,000  45-55
MT: 125,000  56,250  68,750  45-55
    Totals    911,250      813,750

Under this scenario, Clinton will net 97,500 in the remaining contests. So Clinton can win the popular vote if you count Florida and Michigan, but it'll be close and it's just as likely with a bigger than expected win for Obama in Oregon that he can actually win the popular vote even with netting ZERO votes out of Michigan. This shows just how massive both turnout was in North Carolina and the margin of Obama's victory was in the state. Once again, he shows that when he wins a state, he wins big.

*** Mission: Impossible? Second, on the delegate front, if Florida and Michigan were seated as is and Obama got the uncommitted delegates in Michigan, Clinton would net an additional 32 delegates from Florida and 18 from Michigan -- for a total net of 50. So add those numbers into the current pledged delegate count and Obama still would lead in the pledged delegate count by more than 100, approximately 110 in fact. So let's use 110 as the baseline. For Clinton to overtake him in the pledged delegate lead using THEIR math on Florida and Michigan, she'd need to win 75% of all remaining delegates. That's an impossible task. Most importantly, knowing the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee the way we THINK we do, the likelihood of the committee NOT punishing Florida and Michigan in some way (say a cut in half of their delegates a la the Republicans) would then make this FL/MI exercise moot.

*** How did Obama stop the bleeding? One thing that jumps out at us is his performance in mostly white Indiana counties north of Indianapolis. He either won them or did much better than we expected. While he still struggled against Clinton in areas south of Indianapolis, his performance north of the city demonstrated his potential in the Midwest. Also, Obama improved with Catholics. After losing that group 70%-30% in Pennsylvania and 63%-36% in Ohio, Obama narrowed that margin to 59%-41% in Indiana; in fact, he won the county that includes South Bend. And the gas-tax debate also appears to have been a winner for Obama. Besides overshadowing (a bit) the Wright story over the days leading into last night's contests, the debate played into Obama's core message (that he will change the way Washington works) and played into Clinton's chief negative (that she'll say and do anything to win). That said, Obama didn't get the margins you might have expected in Indiana's northwest counties close to Illinois. Our guess is there might have been a racial divide here, and Wright might have been a factor in the Chicago media market. Even in Lake County, Obama only won 55%-45%. That probably means he lost white vote there badly... You have to wonder how much he would have WON Indiana by if 1) there was no Wright controversy or 2) he had more time.

*** What now? As we mentioned yesterday, with more undeclared superdelegates remaining (266.5) than pledged delegates left (217), the race has moved from the campaign trail to the back rooms. In calls with undecided party leaders this morning, we are not sensing any urgency for Clinton to make a campaign decision this week; she's going to be given plenty of breathing room. Don't expect a HUGE rush of big name superdelegates to Obama's side. If he picks a bunch of folks, they'll be the lesser-known folks, the ones who want some early credit for getting on the bandwagon. Meanwhile, over at the Clinton campaign, there will be a lot of people asking them about money today now that there are reports she loaned more money to the cause. Did a bunch of supporters kick in money? We're guessing if they had, we'd already know. Speaking of, one thing about Obama's victory and near miss last night: They would not have been possible without his well-funded operation and that should also be something that impresses superdelegates. He performed when his back was against the wall. He ran up margins in early votes, in absentee votes and had a superior GOTV operation.

*** Questions galore: One of the things about last night that will make it very hard for Clinton to convince folks she has a rationale for continuing her candidacy beyond making a statement is that there will be a rush to analyze just how she got to this point: the brink of elimination from the presidential sweepstakes. Some questions we expect many a reporter, strategist and analyst to ask and purse over the next days and weeks: If Iraq is never the first BIG issue of the primary campaign, does Obama even have a rationale for running? What if Clinton had voted against the Iraq war resolution or apologized for it before 2007? Was Bill Clinton an asset or a liability? Could she have gotten this far without him? Did he prevent her from becoming the change candidate? Did Mark Penn's focus on making Clinton appear ready to be Commander in Chief in 2007 rather than thinking about the party's left flank in the primary ultimately doom her? Who remembers that it was Clinton, not Obama, who had more money raised and in the bank at the end of '07? What if Clinton skips Iowa? What if Florida had stayed on the March 4 primary day and she won Florida, Ohio and Texas all on the same night? So many what ifs... And so many more we're missing…

*** A prescient McCain: Of all states for McCain to be in today, there may not be a better one than Michigan. This is a state that will be square in the battleground in any race between Obama and McCain. The Michigan delegate dispute and Obama's attacks on the auto industry will make things tough on him in this state. Then there's the whole Reagan Democrat issue. Of all the blue states on the Kerry 2004 map, Michigan may be the most vulnerable to a flip in a Obama-McCain match-up. So on this day that some believe the general election may be unofficially starting, McCain's in Michigan. Timing is everything. 

*** On the trail: Clinton attends an event at Shepherd University in West Virginia with Chelsea and then holds a fundraiser in Washington, DC; McCain holds a town hall in Rochester, MI, goes to New York to tape Jon Stewart's Daily Show, and then raises money in New York City; and Obama is down in Chicago with his family before returning to DC later in the evening.
 
Countdown to West Virginia: 6 days
Countdown to Kentucky and Oregon: 13 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 181 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 258 days
 
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With 99% of precincts reporting, Obama easily won North Carolina, 56%-42%. And with 99% of precincts reporting in Indiana, Clinton won that state, 51%-49%.

Here's the challenge for the Clinton campaign: More people right now believe the Washington Post's headline versus the LA Times'.

The L.A. Times: "Obama takes North Carolina; Clinton wins Indiana." Subhead: "He remains well-positioned to win the nomination, but has not mustered the strength to finish off his rival."

The Washington Post's: "Obama Is Decisive Winner in N.C.; Clinton Ekes Out Victory in Indiana"  Subhead: "Former First Lady Vows to Continue Despite a Widening Delegate Gap"

The Washington Post piece notes that Obama "scored a landslide victory in North Carolina's Democratic presidential primary yesterday, moving him ever closer to locking up an insurmountable lead among pledged delegates, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton posted a razor-thin win in the hotly contested Indiana primary as she sought to keep her shaky candidacy for the nomination alive… The twin results solidified the status quo in the Democratic race, one that now gives Obama the clear advantage in the battle for the nomination because of his solid lead in the tally of pledged delegates. Despite her Indiana victory, Clinton emerged even more the underdog in the nomination battle."

The New York Times: "The results from the two primaries, the largest remaining Democratic ones, assured that Mr. Obama would widen his lead in pledged delegates over Mrs. Clinton, providing him with new ammunition as he seeks to persuade Democratic leaders to coalesce around his campaign. He also increased his lead in the popular vote in winning North Carolina by more than 200,000 votes." More: "In winning North Carolina by 14 percentage points, Mr. Obama … recorded his first primary victory in nearly two months. His campaign was preparing to open a new front in his battle with Mrs. Clinton, intensifying the argument to uncommitted Democratic superdelegates that he weathered a storm and that the time was dawning for the party to concentrate on the general election." 

The Boston Globe calls Obama's North Carolina "decisive." "Obama moved closer to clinching the Democratic nomination, adding to his increasingly strong advantage in pledged delegates and in the overall popular vote with just six contests remaining over the next month -- and none likely to radically reshape the race."

Obama at his victory speech, per the New York Daily News. "'Many of the pundits have suggested that this party is inalterably divided - that Sen. Clinton's supporters will not support me, and that my supporters would not support her,' Obama said Tuesday night in his North Carolina victory speech. 'I'm here tonight to tell you that I don't believe it.' Before an ebullient crowd of thousands at North Carolina State University, Obama appeared to shift into general election campaign mode."

Clinton and her campaign were upbeat throughout the two-week, two-state campaign, NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli notes. They cited polls in Indiana and North Carolina moving in her direction -- a growing lead in the Hoosier State and a narrowing gap in the Tar Heel State. They secured the endorsement of Gov. Mike Easley and hammered away relentlessly on an issue they said polls showed was popular: a gas tax holiday. No less an authority than Dan Balz of the Washington Post wrote that Clinton seemed to have found her groove, while Maureen Dowd wrote (as only she could) that Clinton seemed to have sucked the life out of Obama.

But Memoli says the mood on the flight from Indianapolis to Washington, D.C., was quite grim. Aides were defensive -- even combative at times -- when pressed about how the campaign would respond to what is being viewed as a disappointing night. They said, rightly, that they had never predicted victory in North Carolina. Key to their argument was that Obama had hundreds of thousands of votes secured weeks before Election Day, making for an insurmountable lead.

The Raleigh News & Observer: "Obama carried North Carolina on Tuesday, winning a good chunk of its 115 pledged delegates and soaring to a solid victory on cascades of support from blacks, young people and voters who say they have been hit hard by the troubled economy… 'They've been saying that North Carolina would be a game-changing state in this election," Obama said. "But what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, D.C.'"

The headline from the Indy Star: "Clinton squeaks by Obama." 

The New York Post: "Hillary Rodham Clinton's bread-and-butter supporters - working-class voters and women - did not come to her in the numbers she needed in Indiana, exit polls showed. Clinton managed only a narrow victory because she captured just small majorities among those two core groups, who had been responsible for giving her strong primary victories in Ohio and Pennsylvania over the last two months, according to exit surveys conducted for The Associated Press and a media consortium."

The New York Daily News: "Hillary Clinton blew her last, best chance to turn in a game-changing primary win Tuesday night, as Barack Obama rolled to a landslide in North Carolina while Clinton barely edged him in Indiana."

The AP's Fouhy: "Hillary Rodham Clinton needed a game changer. Instead, it's almost game over."

The Wright factor… "Wright was a looming factor in the voting, with nearly half in each state saying he was important in choosing a candidate. Of that group, seven in 10 in Indiana and six in 10 in North Carolina backed Clinton. Those saying Wright did not influence them heavily favored Obama. In North Carolina, Obama got more votes from people saying they discounted the Wright episode than Clinton got from those affected by it, while in Indiana the two groups were about equal in size.

"Among whites, eight in 10 in both states who said Wright affected their choice went with Clinton. That was well above the six in 10 whites overall who supported her. In both states, two-thirds of Clinton's white voters said Wright was important. That compared to eight in 10 white Obama supporters who said Wright was not a factor."

The New York Times' Nagourney writes, "In this case, a split was not a draw. Despite narrowly winning Indiana, while losing North Carolina, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton did not fundamentally improve her chances of securing the Democratic presidential nomination. If anything, Mrs. Clinton's hopes for overtaking Senator Barack Obama dwindled further on Tuesday night."

"Absent some sort of miracle on May 31st [at the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee], it's going to be tough for us," said a senior Clinton official told the Washington Post. "We lost this thing in February. We're doing everything we can now . . . but it's just an uphill battle."

The Obama campaign released this statement to NBC/NJ last night: "Clinton needed big wins in both states to cut into Obama's overall lead, and she didn't get them. She missed her last chance to catch up in the delegate count-the measure that will determine the Democratic nominee. The tight finish in Indiana and Barack Obama's huge win in North Carolina have fundamentally changed this race."

The New York Post's cover: "Toast!" across a photo of Clinton.

The New York Daily News: "Hil needs a miracle."

Conservative writer Jennifer Rubin makes this point: "[B]efore Republicans get excited about the possibilty of vicious infighting that will torment Democrats, those Republicans should keep in mind two things. First, eventually there will be a nominee (whether May or June or August) and a final night of the convention where everyone will raise hands together and declare undying loyalty. Most of those Clinton supporters, especially ones committed enough to vote in a primary, will vote Democratic in November. And there are a lot more registered Democrats than there used to be."

"Second, Obama is a fast learner. His speech last night included a heavy dose of heartfelt appreciation for America, reverence for the land of opportunity and lots of empathy for working class voters. Like a vacuum cleaner, he is sucking up the Clintonian message to blue collar voters and absorbing the rhetoric which has successfully lured a coalition of working class whites, seniors and women. Don't expect any more Snobgate slip-ups. In short, the fun for conservatives is at an end."

The New York Times on McCain's speech on the judiciary yesterday: "Senator John McCain reached out to conservatives on Tuesday by vowing to appoint judges he characterized as strictly faithful to the Constitution and who did not engage in what Mr. McCain condemned as 'the common and systemic abuse of our federal courts.'" More: "Mr. McCain's speech was a clear embrace of the judicial philosophy of President Bush and other recent Republican presidents who sought judges who generally construed laws as narrowly as possible, who for the most part favored government authority in criminal matters and who were opposed to the expansion of abortion rights."

Per the Washington Post, McCain said "that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. 'would serve as the model for my own nominees, if that responsibility falls to me,' highlighting the gap between Republicans and Democrats on the question of who should sit on the Supreme Court. Both justices have established strong conservative records since Bush appointed them, and the appointment of one more conservative to the nation's highest court could tip the balance on issues such as abortion, discrimination, civil liberties and private property." 

Two women ending up winning the contested gubernatorial primaries in Indiana and North Carolina. The Indy Star: "Jill Long Thompson captured a slim victory early today in a fierce battle for the Democratic nomination for governor. With just 26 of the state's 5,230 precincts left to report at 1:30 a.m., Long Thompson led Schellinger by just 5,400 votes. She had won 50.25 percent of the vote statewide compared to his 49.75, largely thanks to winning 54 percent of the Lake County vote, which did not release most of its results until early this morning."

Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Lt. Gov. Bev Perdue beat Richard Moore for the Democratic nomination, and she will face Republican Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory in the fall. 

The New York Observer writes about Google and YouTube's under-noticed announcement to hold a debate in New Orleans in September -- thus bypassing the Commission on Presidential Debate's longstanding hold on the fall debate franchise. "When contacted recently by The Observer, one TV news executive said that any network, including his own, would jump at the opportunity to co-host the New Orleans debate with Google and Co. That said, he was skeptical that the candidates would ultimately agree to add another debate (with its heavy preparation time) to their jam-packed schedules. To date, none of the three remaining candidates have publicly accepted the invitation." 

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Lake County accounts for the remaining 5% outstanding in Indiana. That should narrow the gap some. With 57% reporting in Lake County, Obama leads by 21,000-plus votes. Clinton is still up 16,600-plus votes. The Nortwest Indiana Times reports all of Gary is in and that 7,000 absentee ballots remain to be counted.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
NBC News has allocated some of the pledged delegates from Indiana and Pennsylvania.

INDIANA: Clinton 35-31 (6 remain to be allocated)
NORTH CAROLINA: Obama 49-42 (24 remain to be allocated)

The Delegate Counts:
PLEDGED: Obama 1,572-1,415
SUPERDELEGATES: Clinton 272.5-256
OVERALL: 1,828-1.687.5

This would put Obama within 197 of the 2,025. (This, of course, does not include Florida and Michigan.)

NOTE: For those tracking popular vote and that metric at home, Obama has likely netted more of the popular vote out of North Carolina than Clinton did in Pennsylvania. With 98% reporting in North Carolina, Obama leads by 225,266 votes. Clinton netted 214,224 out of Pennsylvania.

From NBC's Mark Murray
The powerful Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is backing Obama, just issued a press release calling Obama the "presumptive" Democratic nominee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
OBAMA: CLEARLY THE PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE
SEIU Calls for Democrats to Unite Around Obama
"Senator Obama's commanding win in North Carolina and close showing in Indiana means he is clearly the Democratic nominee for President," said Anna Burger, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer. "We've had a long process and the outcome is now clear. The Democratic Party should come together to focus on winning in November."

In addition to Obama's victory, SEIU members celebrated the primary win of Rep. André Carson in Indiana's 7th district and were closely watching the outcome for Jill Long Thompson in the race for Governor. Health care workers, janitors and child care workers and other SEIU members volunteered their time in Indiana for weeks to educating and turning out voters for the candidates for their commitment to standing with working families.

With tonight's win for Rep. André Carson, SEIU members have now helped to elect five candidates for Congress of the last five congressional races in which they've participated with a ground and air campaign.
The other candidates are:
- Rep. Niki Tsongas, MA 05
- Donna Edwards, MD 04
- Rep. Bill Foster, IL 14
- Rep. Don Cazayoux, LA 06

"With the latest victories of pro-worker candidates, including those in districts where conservatives have dominated for many years, voters are clearly sending a message that they want change in Washington," said Burger. "With Barack Obama as President, and a pro-worker majority in Congress, working families will finally have a chance to fix our broken health care system and create a new American Dream for all of us."

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
INDIANAPOLIS -- The crowd came to the Murat Centre tonight to hear Hillary Clinton give a victory speech tonight. They got that -- but they also got a fundraising appeal.

Sure enough, Clinton did claim victory, referring to Obama's own words in saying, "We've broken the tie," and that it's "full speed on to the White House." But then came the money pitch. "This has always been your campaign and this is your victory, because your support has meant the difference between winning and losing," she said. "We can only keep winning if we're able to keep competing against an opponent who does outspend us."

She then asked supporters to visit her Web site, where visitors are greeted now with a message on the front page that asks supporter to donate $5.

Asked if this was a victory speech or a fundraising appeal, one spokesperson responded: "The two go hand in hand."

As she sought additional funds, Clinton moved the goal posts ahead and identified two states in particular as areas of emphasis.

"For too long, we've let places like West Virginia and Kentucky slip out of the Democratic column," she said. "Well, it's time for that to change. These next primaries are another test. I'm going to work my heart out in West Virginia and Kentucky this month, and I intend to win them in November.

West Virginia votes next Tuesday. Kentucky votes on May 20, along with Oregon. A preliminary schedule calls for Clinton to visit that state on Thursday. But it's a state that Obama is favored in, and one where many of the votes have already been cast because of the mail-in system. Campaign aides say they are by no means writing Oregon off, but that Kentucky and West Virginia are states that they "feel very good about."

The speech was also noteworthy for some curious inclusions. For starters, Bill Clinton joined her on stage after having been absent for victory celebrations in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The former president had been on a whirlwind tour of North Carolina in recent days, but his trips to small town after small town apparently couldn't close the gap.

She also congratulated Obama on his victory in North Carolina. During his run of victories in February, she often campaigned in different states, ignoring the results. But she also made her pitch again to count contests she won that he did not compete in, Florida and Michigan.

"It would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states," she said

Regardless, she did acknowledge the need for the party to unify behind the nominee, even if she wouldn't acknowledge the shrinking window for her to achieve that position.

"It's so close, and I think that says a lot about how excited and passionate our supporters are," she said. "No matter what happens, I will work for the nominee of the Democratic Party because we must win in November."

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
RALEIGH, NC -- Obama delivered a victory speech here tonight, after winning big in the biggest state left to vote. He took the stage even as election results in Indiana, where Clinton was ahead, continued to roll in.

He congratulated Clinton on what he said "appears to be" a victory in the Hoosier State, and thanked the people of the Tar Heel State for giving him a big win here "in a big state."

In a briefing with the press before the Illinois senator spoke, his aides said the win in North Carolina -- even coupled with a loss in Indiana -- would not change the race and that he was still much closer to reaching the delegate number needed to win the nomination. Last week, Clinton called today's primaries a "game changer" and Obama and his aides tonight rejected that idea.

"You know, there were those who were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election," Obama said at the top of his speech. "But today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, DC."

His mention of big state was a way of rebutting one of the Clinton camp's main arguments: that she has won the big states that matter. North Carolina is a top-10 state population-wise, his aides pointed out earlier tonight.

He won black voters in the state overwhelming and also benefited from first-time voters, the majority of whom favored him.

"Because you still believe that this is our moment, and our time to change America, tonight we stand less than two hundred delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination for president of the United States," he said.

As both candidates have been doing a great deal of lately, Obama said the party would be united in the fall, despite the protracted, hard-fought primary race. "This has been one of the longest, most closely fought contests in American history. That's partly because we have such a formidable opponent in Sen. Hillary Clinton," he said. "Tonight, many of the pundits have suggested that this party is inalterably divided -- that Sen. Clinton's supporters will not support me, and that my supporters would not support her. Well, I'm here tonight to tell you that I don't believe it."

(NOTE: His prepared remarks showed him saying "Clinton's supporters will not support me ... my supporters will not support her.")

He said there had been "bruised feelings on both sides" and that each side "desperately wants their candidate to win," but that he was certain the party would united to defeat presumptive nominee John McCain.

Much of his brief speech was a repeat of his usual stump, and he made a point of saying he would fight a positive race. He has consistently sought to portray himself as a new kind of politician who wants to move beyond the kind of divisive politics he believes have symbolized the way things have been done in Washington.
 
He imagined aloud the kind of campaign he believed John McCain would run. "We know what's coming." he said. "The same names and labels they always pin on everyone who doesn't agree with all their ideas. The same efforts to distract us from the issues that affect our lives by pouncing on every gaffe and association and fake controversy in the hopes that the media will play along. The attempts to play on our fears and exploit our differences to turn us against each other for political gain."

He said he would resist such politics from the Republican Party playbook, which he said would be used no matter who is the Democratic nominee. "The question, then, is not what kind of campaign they will run, it's what kind of campaign we will run," he said. "It's what we will do to make this year different."

Briefing by aides
In the earlier briefing, Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod said the delegate math was not in Clinton's favor. "Sen. Clinton would have to win close to 70% of the remaining delegates both super delegates and pledged delegates -- that's a very tall order," he said. "We really feel great about the position we're in, despite the kind of tortured constructions that we're getting from the other side."

He said the controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright had not been helpful, but that the fact Obama had done as well as he had was a sign of his strength. "It wasn't helpful and I think the fact that it did dominate news and we've done as well as we've done tonight, I think it really says something about the durability of this candidacy," he said. 

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
At one point in the evening, Clinton held a double-digit lead in Indiana, but that was without Marion County where Indianapolis is. As the 170,000-plus votes in Marion county came trickling in, Clinton's lead dropped and dropped and dropped -- to the point where now the New York senator's lead stands at 4 percentage points or about 39,000 votes. Obama's Marion advantage (67%-33%) won't likely cut much more into the lead, and there are still portions of Clinton counties still out. But there is still the entire county of Lake (about 400,000 population), which contains Gary, Ind., a 100,000-person town in the Chicago media market with an 84% black population.

Clinton, however, has done very well, 58%-42%, in neighboring Porter County -- also in the Chicago media market. Porter is 95% white. Did the heavy local coverage of Wright have an effect here?

Also out, however, still is Monroe County where Bloomington is. Bloomington is home to Indiana University, somewhere that should be an Obama stronghold. There's only 24% out in Monroe.

It's not clear there are enough votes available for Obama to actually overtake Clinton, but it might be right around that Chuck Todd Vegas field goal. Any bets?

From NBC's Ron Allen
Quite a contrast here at Clinton headquarters in Indy. Two big screen TVs are on opposite walls of the banquet hall, staring down at the crowd, and carrying larger than life pictures of Barack Obama giving his victory speech from North Carolina.   

The sound is turned off. But more than a few people seem to be trying to read his lips. Now the crowd here is cheering a caption at the bottom of the screen that reads, "Obama congratulates Clinton on her apparent Indiana win."

Sen. Clinton does, in fact, seemed poised to win Indiana. Her supporters already are talking about how she came from behind, overcame being outspent, and how Obama had predicted victory. They're also sending a memo around, quoting Obama saying that Indiana would be the tiebreaker in the nomination process.
 
And, since earlier today, when Sen. Clinton held a brief "press avail," the Clinton campaign has been talking a lot about Michigan and Florida's disputed elections, and the need to seat the delegates that Clinton "won." They've been explaining the party's rules process for resolving such disputes -- even pointing out that, ultimately, the convention decides. That may yet be the case.
 
One of the most defining aspects of Hillary Clinton is her unrelenting determination. We'll no doubt be heading to West Virginia soon. However, watching the Obama scene from North Carolina must be a bit disheartening. Clinton had said that state could be a game changer. It may well have been had she pulled off a come-from-behind victory. But that didn't happen.

What's more, because NC is bigger than IN and Obama's margin there looks bigger than Clinton's margin here, at the end of it all, Obama looks to be better off in the pledged delegate math.

Wonder what all those undecided super delegates are thinking. Wonder what all the Clinton supporters are thinking watching Obama and his team on those big screens celebrating another win.

NBC News now says the Indiana Democratic primary is too close to call.

NBC News declares Obama the projected winner of North Carolina's Democratic primary.

From NBC's Kevin Corke and MSNBC.com's Andy Merten
We've been at the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds since 5:30 a.m. watching as a steady stream of voters cast their ballots beginning at 6 a.m.

While Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected to easily win the county, we have begun to see (and hear from) there are some anti-Hillary voters. One man, who declined to be interviewed, had a bumper sticker on his red pickup that read, "Anybody But Hillary."

Donna Deerr, a Lafayette native, didn't mince words about her opinion of the New York senator.

"I want her out of my life," said the 66-year old. Deerr said she voted for Obama today, but will vote Republican in the fall.

Deerr said her vote had nothing to do with "Operation Chaos," the effort by some Republican voters to prolong the Democratic primary fight by voting to keep Obama and Clinton even in the balloting. 

"Nope, I'm just sick of the Clintons," she said.

Dave Hutchison, an insurance executive, voted for Romney. "Whoever the Democrats nominate will be so far away from my values it doesn't matter who it is," said the 50-year old.

But not everyone was against Sen. Clinton. One woman, who declined to be interviewed, but appeared to be well into her 70s said "Hillary's just as good as the boys."

Which it would seem is precisely the sort of reasoning that could propel Clinton to an important win here today.

But in Southwestern Indiana the Rev. Wright flap seemed to be resonating in the minds of some voters, particularly in these more rural parts of the state.
 
"I cannot stand here and think that that was the first time his preacher has talked that way," said Brett Schaefer after voting at a polling place in Boonville, Ind., near Evansville. "It scares the hell out of me; it really does."
 
Asked if she would vote for Obama in November should he be the nominee, she said she wasn't sure, although her friend who accompanied her to the poll, Michelle Nix, said she would not.
 
But even in this conservative stronghold, neither said they would necessarily vote for McCain.

"I think McCain is just another Bush," Schaefer said. "I mean, you have to choose between a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas," she added, quoting a Clinton ad that's been playing here nearly verbatim.
 
Republican crossovers also abound. At a polling station down the road in Newburgh, a self-described Independent voter, who said he has voted for the GOP candidate in recent presidential elections, said he was part of "Rush Limbaugh's 'Project chaos,'" which seeks to prolong the Democratic nomination process.
 
The former teacher, who requested to not be identified by name, said he wishes he had a "third choice" come November, unsure if he'd vote for the eventual Democratic nominee or McCain. After considering it for a moment, he added, "Most likely it will be Sen. McCain."
 
He then headed into the junior high school doubling as a polling place and cast his Democratic ticket for Clinton.

Read more from Southern Indiana.

With reporting from NBC's Kevin Corke in Tippecanoe, Ind., in the Northern part of the state and MSNBC.com's Andy Merten in the Southwestern portion.

From MSNBC's David Shuster
Two voting locations in Northern Indiana have been ordered by a judge to stay open past the poll closing time. LaPorte County Board of Elections officials say that one machine in the town of Laporte had a problem because of "human error."

According to the board of elections supervisor, earlier today, a poll worker "missed a few steps" in the process of turning the electronic voting machine on.  As a result, the machine would not start.  It took 25 minutes for a technician to figure out the problem.  A similar problem happened in Hannah Township (within LaPorte County). In that case, the problem took 43 minutes to solve.

Late this afternoon, a circuit court judge in LaPorte County ordered the machines in these two voting precincts to stay open past the poll closing time -- 25 minutes for the precinct in LaPorte proper, 43 minutes in Hannah Township.