By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama took a big step towardthe Democratic presidential nomination with an easy victory inNorth Carolina on Tuesday, and Hillary Clinton vowed to keepher struggling campaign alive after narrowly winning Indiana.
The results helped Obama widen his lead over Clinton in thegruelling Democratic duel for the right to face Republican JohnMcCain in November's presidential election with just sixnominating contests remaining.
Both candidates looked ahead to contests next week in WestVirginia and May 20 in Oregon and Kentucky, but Clinton wasnearly out of opportunities to change the course of the race.
"We have seen that it's possible to overcome the politicsof division and distraction, that it's possible to overcome thesame old negative attacks that are always about scoring pointsand never about solving our problems," Obama said at a victoryrally in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The Illinois senator's 14-point victory in North Carolinawas a dramatic comeback from a difficult campaign stretch thatbegan last month with a big loss in Pennsylvania and wasprolonged by the controversy over racially charged comments byhis former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Obama, 46, sounded like he was already focused on thegeneral election showdown with McCain. "This fall, we intend tomarch forward as one Democratic Party, united by a commonvision for this country," said Obama, who would be the firstblack U.S. president.
The results meant Clinton missed her best chance to narrowObama's lead in pledged delegates who will help pick thenominee at August's convention. She won Indiana by just 23,000votes out of more than 1.25 million votes cast in the state,but promised to keep up the fight.
"It's full speed on to the White House," Clinton said at avictory rally in Indianapolis, with her husband formerPresident Bill Clinton standing behind her. "We've got a longroad ahead, but we're going to keep fighting."
Clinton, a 60-year-old New York senator and former firstlady who would be the country's first woman president, askedthe Indianapolis crowd for donations to keep alive hercampaign, which has been heavily outspent by Obama.
Early on Wednesday Clinton was to head West Virginia wherepolls show she is in the lead ahead of that state's May 13contest. "For too long, we've let places like West Virginia andKentucky slip out of the Democratic column ... I intend to winthem in November in the general election," she said on Tuesday.
OBAMA WIDENS LEAD IN DELEGATES
An MSNBC count showed Obama expanded his delegate edge by anet of nine in the two states. Obama now has 1,876 totaldelegates to Clinton's 1,729, still short of the 2,025 neededto clinch the nomination.
But neither candidate can win without help fromsuperdelegates -- nearly 800 party insiders and officials whoare free to back any candidate -- and the results on Tuesdayundermined Clinton's argument that she is the candidate withthe best chance to beat McCain in November.
With just 217 delegates at stake in the last six contests,Clinton has no realistic chance to overtake Obama's lead inpledged delegates or in popular votes won in the state-by-statebattle for the nomination that began in January.
"We're nearing the finish line," Obama's chief strategistDavid Axelrod told reporters. "I think we've taken another bigstep down the road here to ending this contest and beginningthe general election campaign."
Clinton still hopes to find a way to seat delegates fromMichigan and Florida, where she won contests in January thatare not recognized by the national party because of a disputeover when they were held.
Clinton's campaign said the race was far from over.
"They've been trying to wrap up this nomination over thewill of the voters for a long time, and it hasn't worked," saidClinton spokesman Mo Elleithee. "There's a funny thing aboutdemocracy. Voters like to have a say."
Exit polls showed the faltering U.S. economy, which hasincreasingly preoccupied voters around the country, was the topissue for two-thirds of Indiana voters and about 6 of every 10voters in North Carolina.
In the last week, the two Democrats had courted working-and middle-class voters suffering from an ailing economy andhigh gas prices and battled over Clinton's proposal to lift thefederal gasoline tax for the summer.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Jeff Mason;Editing by Frances Kerry and Jackie Frank)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp:/blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
