Hillary Rodham Clinton battled for survival while Barack Obama hoped to shore up his front-runner status with a solid showing in twin primaries Tuesday in Indiana and North Carolina, the biggest remaining contests of their grueling Democratic presidential nomination fight. The hotly contested primaries appeared to be energizing voters. They turned out by the thousands Tuesday morning. Both candidates have predicted the battle would last through June. Dual victories by Obama would all but knock Clinton out of the race, but polls have found a small edge for the New York senator in Indiana. Obama remains the favorite in North Carolina, though his lead has shrunk. He began the day by dropping in on the Four Seasons Family Restaurant in Greenwood, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. “I feel good,” Obama said when asked about the day's voting. “I think we've campaigned hard. I think it's going to be close. I'm seeing a lot of enthusiasm.” Clinton declined to make predictions. “We're just, you know, looking to see what happens,” Clinton told reporters. Before the opening of polls at 1030 GMT in North Carolina, there were signs of record turnout. Nearly half a million people had already cast early and absentee ballots as of Monday. Clinton needs to win at least Indiana to remain viable in the contest given Obama's solid lead in delegates who will choose the nominee at the party's August convention in Denver. Heading into Tuesday's races, Obama had 1,745.5 to Clinton's 1,608. A total of 2,025 delegates is needed to clinch the nomination. Obama , meanwhile, must erase doubts about his ability to win the November presidential election against Republican John McCain. He has been on the defensive for weeks, losing the Pennsylvania primary April 22. Clinton has been chipping away at Obama's advantage in North Carolina. She was leading Obama 49 percent to 43 percent in Indiana, according to a Suffolk poll with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
