JAKNEWS.COM---Hillary Clinton has claimed victory over Barack Obama in Indiana's presidential primary, based on a narrow lead with most votes counted. Mr Obama is projected to have beaten her in Tuesday's other primary, in North Carolina. US media say Indiana's vote remains too close to call. 

The two states' votes were the last major Democratic primaries, which help decide the party's White House nominee. 

Observers say Indiana is a must-win for Mrs Clinton to keep her campaign going. 

The two rivals have been locked in a drawn-out battle to stand against Republican John McCain in November's presidential vote. 

'Inalterably divided'? 

At her election gathering in Indiana state capital Indianapolis, Mrs Clinton was joined on stage by husband, ex-President Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea, as she told cheering supporters it was "full speed on to the White House". 

In Indiana, with 86% of votes counted, New York Senator Mrs Clinton was leading with 51.8% to Mr Obama's 48.2%. 

In Raleigh, North Carolina, Mr Obama told a victory rally in Raleigh, North Carolina: "There are those who were saying that North Carolina would be a game changer in this election." 

"But today North Carolina decided the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington DC." 

He said regardless of who was chosen as the nominee, Democrats would not be left "inalterably divided" by the rancour that has engulfed his battle against Mrs Clinton, 60. 

Results so far from North Carolina showed Mr Obama clearly ahead of Mrs Clinton by 56.1% to 41.7%. 

Mid-western Indiana, known as the Hoosier State, is home to large numbers of blue-collar workers, a bloc which has backed to Mrs Clinton in previous contests. 

Black-white vote 

According to data from exit polls, Mr Obama won the backing of 90% of North Carolina's African-American voters, who make up more than a third of the state's electorate. 

Mrs Clinton won 58% of non-black voters in the state, according to the polls. 

The Republicans also held primaries in Indiana and North Carolina on Tuesday, but analysts say the votes were largely symbolic as Arizona Senator McCain has effectively sewn up the nomination. 

Mr Obama, an Illinois senator, has an almost unassailable lead in delegates, the Democratic party officials who will choose the nominee at their convention in August. 

Altogether, 187 delegates were at stake in Indiana and North Carolina, nearly half the remaining total. Six state contests are left. 

Mr Obama was leading the race in delegates by 1,745 to 1,608, according to an Associated Press count on Tuesday. 

But neither can win enough delegates to clinch the race before voting ends on 3 June. 

This means that nearly 800 super-delegates - senior party members - will have the final say and the two Democrats will now have to focus on canvassing their support. 

Rocky stretch 

The rivals, courting voters suffering from an ailing economy, spent recent days sparring over Mrs Clinton's proposal to suspend the federal petrol tax for the summer. 

Analysts say Mrs Clinton saved her candidacy with her win in Pennsylvania two weeks ago. 

Mr Obama has struggled through a rocky campaign stretch, dogged by controversy over his gaffe that small-town residents were "bitter" and racially-charged comments by his former pastor, Rev Jeremiah Wright. 

His failure to lock up the nomination has sparked doubts about whether he can attract the white, working class voters needed for Democrats to win in November, analysts say. 

The remaining Democratic primaries will take place over the next month in West Virginia, Oregon, Kentucky, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota.
 

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