Clinton seeks to lower expectations

Just as she did before the Pennsylvania primary, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is seeking to lower expectations ahead of Indiana's and North Carolina's Tuesday votes.

“This is going to be exciting tomorrow because I started very far behind,” Clinton said on CNN, adding: “The Obama campaign has predicted consistently that he would win both Indiana and North Carolina by significant margins.”

{mosads}The former first lady made similar statements on all network and cable news morning broadcasts. However, her rhetoric does not match her recent success in the polls leading up to the two crucial primaries.

According to the RealClearPolitics poll average, Clinton has held the lead in Indiana on most days over the past month, with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) only seizing a small lead in a four-day span at the end of April.

In North Carolina, her argument is more credible. Obama has held a double-digit lead through most of April, but Clinton appears to be closing the gap.

However, the former first lady has been effective in setting the bar low.

On a conference call with reporters, Clinton aides said that Obama started the race in both states with “very substantial advantages.”

By setting the expectations low, Clinton’s team hopes to spin a positive outcome into a greater victory.

“Our positive movement in those states, especially in Indiana, is indicative of a real tide moving in Sen. Clinton’s direction here over the last several weeks,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson told reporters Monday, a talking point that the campaign hopes to repeat often Tuesday night.