Tuesday's primaries brought a split decision for the Democrats: Barack Obama soundly winning in North Carolina and Hillary Rodham Clinton narrowly winning in Indiana.
Obama's support among blacks and first-time voters in North Carolina played a role in his victory. White working-class voters in Indiana helped Clinton in her win.
The outcome leaves the Democratic Party still short of a conclusive winner for the party's presidential nomination.
Obama has the lead in the party's delegate race. A candidate in the Democratic Party needs 2,025 delegates to earn the nomination. Obama needs about 180 more delegates to reach that total; while Clinton needs about 330 more delegates to earn the nomination.
There are slightly more than 200 delegates available in the remaining primaries plus superdelegates.
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The political reality is, barring Obama dropping out or making a major mistake, Tuesday's result made Clinton's nomination chances extremely difficult from a mathematical perspective. Yet, Clinton is not mathematically eliminated.
At some point between now and the end of June, Clinton will face a decision: either keep fighting for the nomination or withdraw from the race.
Some have raised concerns the continue battle for the Democratic nomination. It remains to be seen how the party delegates or public voters will react once the nomination is determined. Certainly, at some point, a continued fight for the nomination can become a campaign negative.
The only thing for sure in the 2008 presidential election is that the race will keep getting more interesting with each passing month keeping voters' interest.
