N.C. and Indiana Primaries

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As we suspected last night, Barack Obama does in fact roll in North Carolina-winning 56-42, and extending his delegate lead despite a two-point victory for Hillary Clinton in Indiana.

Some politicos feel the critical showing diminishes the punch of Hill's charge to superdelegates to override Barack's voter lead and hand her the nomination instead-so that maybe this thing won't end in a tie.

In case you're in the mood for something more decisive, John McCain ekes out a nail-biter over Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, et al. in both states-though the runners up happens to combine for a substantial 24% of the vote in N.C. and 23% in Indiana.

Never has North Carolina been so significant: deemed the game-changer for the Clinton camp and its recent momentum, yet ultimately, perhaps, the game-clincher for Obama. Next up in the strange spotlight of the national stage: West Virginia, next Tuesday.