Obama wins North Carolina

Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) is projected to win the North Carolina Democratic primary, holding off what many thought could be a late charge from rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

{mosads}The Clinton campaign had hoped to knock Obama off balance with wins in both Indiana and the Tar Heel State, but Obama, on the strength of black voters, continued to incrementally extend his pledged delegate and popular vote leads. The race in Indiana was listed as “too early to call.”

Many analysts have said that the resurgent Clinton needs a win in one of the remaining contests where Obama was favored, and the consensus seemed to be that North Carolina represented her last best hope of doing so.