WASHINGTON — The reaction — or lack of it — by Indiana and North Carolina voters to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s incendiary comments emphasizes how deeply entrenched the racial lines of support are for the two Democratic presidential rivals.

It doesn’t seem likely that the renewed focus on Wright has helped Barack Obama, and it is all but certain that he’ll hear more about it from Republicans should he win his party’s nomination. But for now, there’s little evidence it hurt him much in this week’s Democratic contests.

After all the attention to Wright and Obama’s disavowal of his former pastor, exit polls in the two states found that:

–Six in 10 white voters in both states supported Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is waging an increasingly long-shot struggle to become the party nominee. That’s close to the average 57 percent of whites who had backed the New York senator in Democratic primaries since Super Tuesday, which was Feb. 5. It’s also slightly below the 63 percent of whites who voted for her in Pennsylvania and 69 percent in Mississippi, the most recent contests before Tuesday’s voting.

– Whites lacking college degrees favored Clinton over Obama by 31 percentage points in Indiana and 45 points in North Carolina. Since Super Tuesday, she has triumphed over Obama among this group by an average 30 points, including 41 points in Pennsylvania and 55 points in Mississippi.

–White men leaned toward Clinton on Tuesday, as she got 59 percent in Indiana and 55 percent in North Carolina. Clinton got 57 percent of their votes in Pennsylvania and 67 percent in Mississippi.

–About nine in 10 blacks in Indiana and North Carolina voted for Obama, slightly stronger than his usual showing with them. It mattered little whether they said the Wright situation influenced them or not.

Pollsters said there was not enough data to draw conclusions about whether the attention on Wright drove people away from Obama, the Illinois senator, or drew some toward him because of how he denounced the pastor.

By Jeff Goldblatt

Lake County elections officials, under fire for holding up the Democratic primary tallies in Indiana for hours Tuesday night, say several factors contributed to the delays and vowed to reevaluate their methods to avoid a repeat of the problems in November.

The county — Indiana’s second most populous, with about 500,000 people — was the last of the state’s 92 counties to release its vote total. The slow reporting precluded the majority of national media outlets from projecting the winner of the state’s Democratic primary until after midnight.

“We had an election that caused an incredible desire for timely information. And we didn’t meet that. We weren’t able to meet it,” admitted Lake County Election Board Attorney David Saks.

It wasn’t until after 5 a.m. local time that Lake County tallied 100 percent of its vote, with Barack Obama getting 56 percent and Hillary Clinton getting 43 percent. Clinton won the state by 2 points.

Early on, election officials said they were challenged by a record number of absentee votes — more than 11,000. That’s more than three times what the county sees during a typical primary.

They said the vote tabulation was then complicated by a number of other problems: high voter turnout and electronic voting machines used for the first time in a countywide election, 40 of which didn’t properly tally vote totals. Election supervisors were forced to conduct a hand count of these machines.

Election supervisors said they got a good start on counting the thousands of paper ballots before polls closed, but they didn’t dedicate enough time early in the night to counting the machine votes cast on Election Day.

“We maybe should have stopped on the absentees a little bit earlier,” said Michelle Fajman, Lake County election administrator.

Election officials here say nothing illegal happened to slow the pace of the vote count. They say this was a case of wanting to take the time to get things right.

But Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita said the Lake County election board needs to be more accountable.

“This is a board made up of politicians and political wannabes,” he said. “And I don’t put politics past delaying the vote or anything like that.”

Suspicion of impropriety still lingers, especially in the Democratic African American stronghold of Gary, where turnout was heavy. Clinton was holding on to a healthy lead in Indiana early in the night, but when returns from Gary came in, Obama began to narrow the gap.

“It’s had a history going back many decades of a certain amount of political hanky-panky,” FOX News contributor Michael Barone said.

In 1962, Attorney General Robert Kennedy called Lake County one of the most corrupt counties in the nation.

In 2004, the state Supreme Court tossed out a mayoral election in East Chicago because of campaign misconduct that resulted in dozens of voter-fraud convictions. The county eventually purged the voter rolls countywide to try and clean up the system.

In 2005, former congresswoman Katie Hall resigned as the Gary city clerk after pleading guilty to federal mail-fraud charges. That case resulted from accusations that she made office workers raise money for her re-election campaigns in order to keep their jobs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 

 

 

 

Hillary Clinton is vowing to continue her presidential bid despite mounting pressure to quit following a shaky performance in Indiana and a blow-out loss to Democratic rival Barack Obama in North Carolina.

On Wednesday, Clinton appeared at Shepherdstown University in Shepherdstown, W.V. to say that she continues to be in the fight. Her campaign issued a donor plea from Clinton that said with 28 days left, “I’m going to keep fighting for what I believe in until every voter has had his or her say.”

But the list of people pushing her toward the exit now is growing, and added to it Wednesday was one of her earliest backers, 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern, who said he now is supporting Obama.

“I don’t see how Senator Clinton could prevail” to win the nomination, the 85-year-old former senator told FOX News.

McGovern said Clinton’s exit is important to ensure the upper hand in November.

“I think it’s important for Democrats to be united,” McGovern said.

McGovern joins last week’s high-profile defection of former Democratic Party chairman Joe Andrew and February’s stinging departure of Georgia Rep. John Lewis.

Even before McGovern’s announcement, Clinton cut loose a planned day of rest Wednesday to start up the campaign machine for one final push. Six nomination contests remain over the next four weeks, 217 pledged delegates are still up for grabs and 269 superdelegates are undecided.

The campaign reacted coolly to the news.

“We appreciate his friendship, but we think voters in the upcoming states should have their votes counted,” said Clinton spokesman Jay Carson.

Clinton now aims to keep hope alive among a jittery group of superdelegates who have stuck with her so far. To do so she’ll need to pull together a string of fourth-quarter miracles while dangling the prospect of bringing back into the fold votes from Florida and Michigan — which were written off in a pre-primary party dispute.

That hope is diminishing quickly after the latest balloting. Clinton eked out a 1.7 percent win over Obama in Indiana, lower than pre-election polls predicted, taking the Hoosier State 50.8-49.1. But in the Tar Heel State, Obama racked up a 15 percentage point win, winning it 57-42.

Seeing the end in sight, Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod appeared to be shifting the campaign toward a general election fight, saying presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain has “run free for some time now” because of Democratic preoccupation with the ongoing primary fight.

“I don’t think we’re going to spend time solely in primary states,” he said. “We have multiple tasks here.”

Clinton has a chance at winning a few of the remaining states, but the likelihood of her taking the delegates she needs to win is nearly insurmountable. She is favored to win next week in West Virginia, as well as the May 20 contest in Kentucky, and the June 1 contest in Puerto Rico. But her chances are slim in Oregon on May 20, and in the last two primaries in Montana and South Dakota on June 3.

Still, she argues the count is close. Clinton touched on this theme Tuesday night, citing the “he wins one, she wins one” nature of the campaign.

But to reach the number of 2,025 total delegates needed to clinch the nomination, the New York senator would need to take 349 of the 486 total pledged delegates and superdelegates still on the table or undecided, which includes 16 pledged delegates that have yet to be cast in North Carolina.

“Absent a comfortable win in Indiana, it’s hard to see how the Clinton campaign can go forward from here,” FOX News contributor Karl Rove said, noting the results from Tuesday’s contests seemed to signal the end of the primary race and the beginning of the general election campaign.

“It’s gonna be much harder for her tomorrow,” Democratic strategist Bob Beckel said late Tuesday.

The Clinton campaign showed no signs of letting up even as it fought rumors that it was holding a “crisis” meeting with superdelegates on Wednesday to keep them from jumping to Obama.

The campaign, which canceled Clinton’s Wednesday morning show appearances, confirmed it will meet superdelegates but said it’s not anything unusual. Aides say the outcome of Tuesday’s primaries changes nothing and the race moves on to the remaining six contests.

West Virginia will vote next Tuesday. In the middle of the night, the campaign announced Clinton would travel to the Mountain State first thing on Wednesday morning for campaign events.

“It’s so close,” Clinton said during her rally in Indianapolis. “These next primaries are another test. I’m going to work my heart out in West Virginia and Kentucky this month, and I intend to win them in November in the general election.”

She declared she’s going “full speed” to the White House and touted her win in Indiana.

For his part, Obama was enjoying time off the trail on Wednesday, relaxing at home in Chicago before returning to Washington, D.C., late in the day. Later in the week, he was to travel to Oregon, where he appears to hold the advantage, and then to West Virginia and Kentucky, where Clinton now leads.

Both candidates will inevitably turn their attention to superdelegates in the final days or weeks of the campaign. Clinton was still leading the superdelegate count in the middle of the night, 271-256, but combined with pledged delegates, she was behind overall 1,840-1,688.

For the first time in the race, more undeclared superdelegates remained than pledged delegates left on the primary calendar.

With odds against Clinton, her campaign is drafting a battle plan to lobby superdelegates, sources inside the campaign told FOX News. Those plans include using public rallies, direct mail and even TV spots to generate broader public support for undecided superdelegates to side with Clinton.

She got a small boost Wednesday from Rep. Brad Ellsworth of Indiana, who announced that “if it comes down to the convention, I will support the candidate 8th District voters chose unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.”

Undecided superdelegate David Parker, an attorney in North Carolina, also said he isn’t making a commitment yet.

“I’m going to wait until at least June 4. The South is getting together, southern (Democratic National Committee) members are getting together in Mobile, Ala., on June 24 and we’ll have a conversation at that time. I may wait until then just to see what’s happening in the rest of the South,” he said.

Clinton also called on the party “to count all the votes” in direct reference to Michigan and Florida, which the Democratic National Committee penalized by stripping them of their delegations for holding their contests before Super Tuesday, Feb. 5. Clinton said Tuesday the nominee shouldn’t be chosen “by 48 states.”

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Illinois senator’s campaign is ready to make its case to superdelegates too.

“We’re gonna add popular votes tonight, we’re gonna add pledged delegates tonight and from now forward there are more superdelegates at stake than delegates. You’ll see a lot of emphasis put on calling and courting them,” he told FOX News.

Democratic Pollster Doug Schoen said he doesn’t think Clinton’s campaign will be drastically affected by Tuesday’s results.

“She won a victory, albeit a narrow victory,” he said. “The nomination process hasn’t played itself out. It’s supposed to go through June 3 for a reason.”

But many other pundits are questioning whether she can go on. Despite having the financial backing she needs to finish up the remaining contests, helped by a personal loan of $6.4 million in the last month, Clinton is fighting a perception problem.

“This was a big loss for her tonight, and people are a little rattled who support her,” Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers said early Wednesday morning. “I don’t think she’s going to drop out, but at the same time I think they have to reassess things.”

Obama is “clearly the presumptive presidential nominee,” said Obama backer Anna Burger, the secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union.

“Senator Obama’s commanding win in North Carolina and close showing in Indiana means he is clearly the Democratic nominee for president,” Burger said. “We’ve had a long process and the outcome is now clear.”

Barack Obama never wanted his candidacy to be about race, but an extraordinary racial gap appeared to play a decisive role in his big North Carolina victory Tuesday.

According to exit polling in the Tar Heel State, Obama got 92 percent of the African-American vote — a record percentage for him in the Democratic primaries. Blacks made up a third of the state’s electorate.

Hillary Clinton’s continued advantage over Obama among white voters — who made up 62 percent of the total and voted 60 to 36 percent for her over Obama — was no match for the solid backing the Illinois senator got from blacks.

In Indiana, which has a much smaller African-American population at 15 percent, the story was much of the same. There, Obama won 92 percent of the African-American vote, and Clinton won 60 percent of white voters, who comprised 81 percent of the vote.

Exit polling indicated that race wasn’t the only factor that helped Obama narrow Clinton’s lead in Indiana and propel his win in North Carolina. He cut into her own constituencies — like lower-income voters, Catholics and those who said the economy was their most pressing issue.

The controversy surrounding Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, weighed on the minds of some voters. In both Indiana and North Carolina, nearly half the voters said the Wright issue was important to them, and a majority of those voters went for Clinton.

Bob Beckel, Democratic strategist and FOX News contributor, said Obama took a hit because of his former pastor in the Pennsylvania primary two weeks ago, but he believes the impact has reached its peak.

“I think it’s overstated,” he said of the race issue — whether it be the Wright factor or even the racial gap.

Beckel said blacks no doubt rallied behind Obama, especially after what he called the glut of attacks on the candidate in recent weeks, but he does not think the white-black divide will affect the general election.

“They’re talking about how he doesn’t get the white, working-class voters,” said Beckel, pointing out how Clinton attracted many Democrats on the themes of the economy, criticism of the Bush White House and campaigning on heartland values.

“These people went for that message, and they aren’t going to vote for John McCain in the fall,” he said.

Despite half the voters saying the Wright issue was important to them, a majority still said that Obama “shares their values,” an indication that he can not only cross racial lines, but isn’t as alien to Democrats as his opponents had painted him out to be, Beckel added.

“If Wright was going to be an issue, then where it would have shown up is in the ’shares their values’ question,” he said.

Undecided superdelegate Muriel Offerman, of Cary, N.C., said she had wondered if the Wright controversy could have cost Obama her state and still questions what the racial divide will mean in the fall.

“This week I wasn’t sure how this was going to shake out because of the Jeremiah Wright thing and because President Clinton had been here so much,” she said in a telephone interview from her home, where she was watching coverage of Obama’s victory on television. Former President Bill Clinton visited small towns across North Carolina in support of his wife, including nine stops on the eve of the election.

“People want change and I think North Carolina is like some of the other states, that it’s just time for a change,” Offerman said. But she said Obama’s racially lopsided victory “is certainly a concern. And I think we all have our work cut out for us.”

FOX News’ Kelley Beaucar Vlahos and The Associated Press contributed to this report

The following is Hillary Clinton’s speech from her Indianapolis rally after Tuesday’s primary.

HILLARY CLINTON: Thank you so much. Thank you, Indiana. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Not too long ago, my opponent made a prediction. He said I would probably win Pennsylvania, he would win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tiebreaker.

(APPLAUSE)

Well, tonight we’ve come from behind, we’ve broken the tie, and, thanks to you, it’s full speed onto the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

This has been an extraordinary experience, traveling across Indiana, having an opportunity to meet so many of you.

And for everyone who holds your breath at the gas pump, afraid to see how much it cost today, and for everyone working day and night because you want the world for your kids, for every young person with big dreams, who deserves a world of opportunity, and for all those who aren’t in the headlines, but have always written America’s story, tonight is your victory right here in Indiana.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to commend — I want to commend Senator Obama and his supporters on their win in North Carolina.

You know, we are, in many ways, on the same journey. It’s a journey begun long before we were born. It is a journey by men and women who have been on a mission to perfect our union, who marched and protested, who risked everything they had to build an America that embraces us all.

And tonight, once again, I need your help to continue our journey.

AUDIENCE: Yes, we will! Yes, we will! Yes, we will! Yes, we will! Yes, we will! Yes, we will!

CLINTON: You know, this has always been your campaign, and this is your victory, because your support has meant the difference between winning and losing. And we can only keep winning if we’re able to keep competing against an opponent who does outspend us massively.

So I hope you will go to HillaryClinton.com and support our campaign.

(APPLAUSE)

This is a very touching moment for me. I grew up in the Midwest, born in Chicago, raised in Park Ridge, Illinois. My dad was a World War II vet who started his own small business. My mother…

(UNKNOWN): (OFF-MIKE)

CLINTON: And originally from Scranton, PA. That’s right.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

My mother had a difficult childhood, but worked hard to provide a loving home for us. And she didn’t attend college herself, but was determined her children would. And I don’t think she ever dreamed she would see a night like this.

You know, their story, like every one of our stories, is the American story. It’s a story of men and women who embrace opportunity, never waver in the face of adversity, and never stop believing in the promise of America.

And yet today, I have met so many people here in Indiana and across America who feel invisible. You sure feel invisible when you’re paying $60 or $70 to fill up your tank. You feel invisible when the money you took to the grocery store no longer meets your needs for the next week.

You feel invisible when your health insurance disappears and college is out of reach.

(APPLAUSE)

And you can’t believe how invisible you feel when your loved one who served our country in war is ill-served back at home. But I know…

(APPLAUSE)

I know these stories. And I see you and I hear you. And I know how hard you’re working, working for yourselves and working for your families. And I will never stop fighting for you, so that you can have a future (inaudible)

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: Tonight…

AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: Tonight, Hoosiers have said that you do want a president who stands strong for you, a president who is ready on day one to take charge as commander-in-chief and keep our families safe, a president who knows how to make this economy work for hard-working, middle-class families.

And there are lots of ideas about how best to do that, because we need all of the good common sense that Americans have to offer.

And I know that we’ve got an important debate going on right now about how we’re going to help families deal with these gas prices. They have gone up so fast, so out of sight in the minds of the people that I talk with, and I think it’s time that we really had a concerted strategy.

You’ve heard me say this, and I’ll say it again: I think it’s time to give Americans a break this summer and to make the oil companies pay the gas tax out of their record profits.

(APPLAUSE)

I say it’s time to cover every single American with health insurance.

(APPLAUSE)

And I say it’s time to freeze foreclosures for families most at risk of losing their homes, including our soldiers, who are in harm’s way and are being foreclosed on here in America.

Fundamentally, I believe that Americans need a champion in their corner, that for too long we’ve had a president who has stood up and spoke out for the wealthy and the well-connected.

But I don’t think that’s what Americans need or what they’re looking for now. And I think standing up for working people is about the American dream and the Democratic Party. And I think standing up for the middle class is about who we are and who we can be, if we stick together.

So it is important that, as we go forward in this campaign, that we recognize we are all on the same team. We are going to be standing up for you. We’re going to be looking for a way to turn this country around and bring it back to what it should stand for and be all about: better futures for you and your children, solving the problems that affect us here in America.

(APPLAUSE)

And I know…

AUDIENCE: Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

CLINTON: I know that people — people are watching this race, and they’re wondering, I win, he wins, I win, he wins. It’s so close. And I think that says a lot about how excited and passionate our supporters are and how intent so many Americans are to really taking their country back.

But I can assure you, as I have said on many occasions, that, no matter what happens, I will work for the nominee of the Democratic Party, because we must win in November.

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: Yes, we will! Yes, we will! Yes, we will!

CLINTON: And I know — I know that Senator Obama feels the same way, because we have been on this campaign trail now for a long time.

(LAUGHTER)

And we know how desperately people want to see a change, and it will not be a change if the Republicans keep the White House. It will be more of the same, something that no one, no matter what political party you may be, can afford.

It is time for all of us to recognize what is at stake in this election, not just for Democrats, as we decide who will be our nominee, but for all Americans.

You know, the soldiers and the veterans that I meet, they always say to me, “Promise you’ll take care of my buddies.” They rarely ask for themselves. And they need a president who will take care of them.

And when I talk with the people who come to rallies and events like this, very often it’s with a bit of hesitation that they tell me they’ve lost their job, they’ve lost their health care, they can’t afford to go to college.

And it just breaks my heart, because when I think about the America that I grew up in, the future was unlimited, the potential was there for all of us, if we were willing to work hard and do our part.

So this journey that we’re on together is one that has been a blessing for me, because I know what this country has meant to me and I know what it still means to all of you.

It is now our responsibility to ensure that it will always mean the same for our children and our grandchildren.

(APPLAUSE)

I will never — I will never give up on you and on your families and on your dreams and on your future. And I want to thank the people of Indiana for your hospitality and your vote of confidence.

And I especially want to thank your wonderful senator, Evan Bayh.

(APPLAUSE)

Evan is an outstanding leader for this state and for America. He’s been your governor. He’s now your senator. He’s someone whom I look to for advice and counsel. He’s worked tirelessly on this campaign. And I am so grateful to him and his wonderful wife, Susan.

I also want to thank the people of North Carolina, who were so hospitable and gracious to us.

And I especially want to thank Mike and Mary Easley for their friendship and support. Governor Easley is a visionary leader for North Carolina, and we had so much fun campaigning in the Tar Heel State.

And while we are celebrating tonight, I would like to take a moment to express my deepest sympathies to the victims of the devastating cyclone in Burma. Our hearts and prayers go out to the people there.

And I call upon the junta that has ruled Burma for so many years to please let the rest of the world in to help. This is a time when everyone should be there to lift up those who were affected by this deadly storm.

(APPLAUSE)

And I want to thank all of my friends who have worked so hard. I want to thank my friends in labor. I want to thank my staff, my volunteers, and my supporters.

And I especially want to thank my family for their incredible love and support, Bill and Chelsea and my brothers and my (inaudible)

(APPLAUSE)

You know, people ask us all the time, “Well, how do you keep going?” We love getting out and meeting people. We love having a chance to be with all of you. And didn’t Chelsea do a great job?

(APPLAUSE)

And I know a lot of people enjoyed seeing my husband again out on the campaign trail.

(APPLAUSE)

So now it is on to West Virginia, Kentucky, Oregon, and the other states where people are eager to have their voices heard. For too long, we’ve let places like West Virginia and Kentucky slip out of the Democratic column. Well, it’s time for that to change.

And these next primaries are another test. I’m going to work my heart out in West Virginia and Kentucky this month, and I intend to win them in November in the general election.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, I want the people in these upcoming states to know we’re going to work hard to reach out to all of you, because we want you to know that the Democratic Party is your party and a Democratic president will be good for you.

(APPLAUSE)

So, please, come join us in our campaign.

And I am running to be the president of all of America: north, south, east and west, and everywhere in between. That’s why it is so important that we count the votes of Florida and Michigan.

(APPLAUSE)

AUDIENCE: Count the vote! Count the vote! Count the vote! Count the vote! Count the vote! Count the vote! Count the vote!

CLINTON: You know, it seems it would be a little strange to have a nominee chosen by 48 states.

(LAUGHTER)

We’ve got a long road ahead, but we’re going to keep fighting on that path for America, because America is worth fighting for. And we believe in America’s potential and possibility that has so ignited hope and the dreams of people throughout our country and around the world.

You know, people who left everything behind in order to come here and be part of this great experiment in democracy, dissidents and dreamers on every continent who look to us and our ideals for their hope and inspiration, all those around the world who wept for us and prayed for us on September 11th, who laid wreaths and flew flags at half-mast, and printed that unforgettable headline, “We are all Americans,” that is the reach of America’s embrace, through time and place and history.

And I know we can, once again, open our arms to the world. We can, once again, be the can-do nation, a nation that defies the odds and greets the future with optimism and hope.

There isn’t anything America can’t do once we make up our minds to start acting like Americans again. And that is exactly what we intend to do.

Thank you. And God bless you. And God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

END

Barack Obama’s campaign issued an e-mail on Tuesday night that appeared to relegate Hillary Clinton’s lead in Indiana to efforts by Rush Limbaugh to wreak havoc in the Democratic presidential primary contest.

In an e-mail entitled “The Limbaugh Effect in Indiana = 7 percent,” Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton wrote: “According to the latest exit polling data, 17 percent of voters in the Indiana primary today said they would vote for John McCain in a Clinton/McCain match-up. Forty-one percent of that number is constituted by people who voted Clinton in the primary but also indicated they will vote for McCain in the general election. That comes out to just under 7 percent of the primary electorate the number that may be attributed to a Limbaugh Effect.”

“The Limbaugh Effect” referred to “Operation Chaos,” which the conservative radio talk show host launched early in the primary season to create “balance” in the 2008 primary contest after he said liberal influences helped John McCain emerge as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Limbaugh has said his scheme to tilt the Democratic primary exceeded his expectations.

“I see the Obama campaign is saying Operation Chaos accounted for a 7-point bump for Hillary in Indiana. I think they are just jealous that I out-organized them,” Limbaugh told FOX News Tuesday night. “I am extremely proud of Operation Chaos volunteers. I never doubted they would triumph and it is a delight to see.”

Clinton was leading in Indiana by 4 percentage points with a few counties outstanding. Speaking from North Carolina Tuesday night, Obama credited Clinton for “what appears to be her victory in the state of Indiana.”

The impact of “Operation Chaos” is difficult to measure. Indiana holds an open primary, and according to FOX News exit polls, 11 percent of voters in the Democratic contest were Republicans. Fifty-three percent of them said they chose Clinton, while 47 percent voted for Obama.

Twenty-three percent of Indiana voters called themselves independents or non-affiliated, and 47 percent said they supported Clinton compared to 53 percent for Obama. Democrats made up 66 percent of voters, and 53 percent voted for Clinton compared to 47 percent for Obama, the exit poll respondents said.

The exit polls showed that in a hypothetical Clinton-McCain matchup, 73 percent of those who voted in the Democratic race said they’d vote for Clinton, compared to 69 percent who said they would choose Obama if he is McCain’s opponent.

However, of the 19 percent of voters who said they would choose McCain against Obama if that were the general election matchup, only 12 percent voted for Obama in the primary.