Obama takes decisive step toward nomination

Sen. Barack Obama took a large and potentially decisive step toward the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, making dramatic symbolic and numerical gains in North Carolina and Indiana. Obama’s emphatic North Carolina victory, and a narrow loss in Indiana, extended his lead in the count of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and in most counts of the combined popular vote. As important, they diminished Clinton’s rationale for urging Democratic superdelegates to override his delegate lead and give the nomination to her. Her case to party elders — that Obama was a flawed, flagging candidate — lost much of its altitude despite a nail-biting and narrow victory in Indiana. Her bread-and-butter pitch to voters fell prey to the doubts Obama’s television campaign raised about her sincerity. What had been, in the best of scenarios an up hill climb, became far steeper. "There were those who were saying that North Carolina could be a ‘game-changer’for Mrs. Clinton," Obama jeered in his Raleigh victory speech. "But today, what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, DC."