End of the Democratic nomination nears as Obama registers a decisive win in the North Carolina primary, while Clinton edges past Obama in Indiana; More super delegates pledge to Obama; McCain targets Obama
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  • The end of Democratic nomination race finally appears closer now. Though Senator Hilary Clinton won the Indiana primary, it was only by a small margin. On the other hand, Senator Obama took the North Carolina and Guam Primaries by decisive margins. The results from the two primaries, the largest remaining Democratic ones, have given Mr. Obama the lead in both pledged democrats and popular votes providing him with new ammunition as he seeks to persuade Democratic leaders to coalesce around his campaign 1. This win for Mr. Obama has been crucial as he has been able to prove that he can face up to questions about race, patriotism, economy and political mettle - issues that the Clinton campaign had suggested would leave him vulnerable in the general election2.

    Other factors also pointed towards the impending end of Mrs. Clinton’s candidacy. More super delegates were moving towards the Obama campaign with his staff announcing the support of four new super delegates - Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party; Jeanette Council, a member of the Democratic National Committee from North Carolina; Inola Henry, a member of the national committee from California; and Jennifer McClellan of the Virginia House of Delegates. McClellan had switched from the Clinton camp.

    Even as political pressure on Clinton to withdraw was growing, she announced that she was going to start campaigning for the upcoming primary in West Virginia. Bad news for her however continued with former Senator George McGovern of South Dakota, the 1972 Democratic nominee, a widely known supporter of Mrs. Clinton, announcing on May 7 that he would endorse Obama . McGovern also called on Clinton to drop out as he believed it would be mathematically impossible for her to win the nomination 3.

    Faced with an increasingly difficult situation, reports noted a more conciliatory tone in Mrs. Clinton’s speeches. She shied away from the more spirited attacks that she earlier made on Mr. Obama and instead engaged him more gently on issues while concurrently aiming her fire on Sen. McCain. McCain on his part started targeting Obama and charged that the Illinois Senator was a favorite of Hamas and that he would also be friendly with Iran, another Hamas ally, for having favoured negotiations with that country4.

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