Obama wins North Carolina presidential contest

Barack Obama said yesterday his big win put him a step closer to winning

Barack Obama said yesterday his big win in North Carolina over Hillary Clinton put him a step closer to winning the Democratic nomination as his aides predicted the fight between the two would be over soon.

"I want to thank the people of North Carolina for giving us a victory in a big state, a swing state, and a state where we will compete to win if I am the Democratic nominee for President of the United States," Obama told a rally after early results indicated he won North Carolina's primary election by a wide margin.

The outcome of Indiana's primary was considered too close to call by most U.S. television networks, though CBS projected that Clinton would win and Obama congratulated her on "what appears to be her victory in the great state of Indiana."

Obama's aides depicted the voting as a success for Obama because they expected him to pick up more delegates than Clinton in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination to face Republican John McCain in November's election.

"I think we've taken another big step down the road here to ending this contest and beginning the general election campaign," said Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod. "We're nearing the finish line."

He predicted that Obama would wrap up the nomination well before the Democratic convention in August. - Reuters