For Clinton, 1-1 split was not a draw

Washington In this case, a split was not a draw.

Despite narrowly winning Indiana, while losing North Carolina, Senator Hillary Clinton did not fundamentally improve her chances of securing the Democratic presidential nomination.

If anything, Clinton's hopes for overtaking Senator Barack Obama dwindled further on Tuesday night.

For Obama, the outcome came after a brutal period in which he was on the defensive over the inflammatory comments of his former pastor.

That he was able to hold his own under those circumstances should allow him to make a case that he has proved his resilience in the face of questions about race, patriotism and political mettle - the very kinds of issues that the Clinton campaign has suggested would leave him vulnerable in the general election.

Beating Obama in Indiana, a state he had once been confident of winning, was an achievement for Clinton. But it was hardly the kind of strong victory she posted in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

And when paired with his comfortable victory in North Carolina - which Obama pointedly described in his victory speech as "a big state, a swing state" - it hardly seemed enough for Clinton to convince so-called uncommitted superdelegates to rally around her candidacy.

Her showing in the two states did not permit Clinton to cut into Obama's lead in pledged delegates or his overall lead in the popular vote. Clinton made clear in her speech that she would "go forward in this campaign", noting that she had won a state where Obama had once expected victory.

With few states left, she and her aides said they would step up their efforts to count the disputed results in Florida and Michigan, where the states held contests in defiance of Democratic Party rules. If Clinton can win the battle to have the delegations from those two states seated at the conventions on the basis of the vote there, she could greatly reduce Obama's lead in pledged delegates.

But neither candidate actively campaigned in Florida or Michigan, and Obama did not appear on the Michigan ballot. Still, in a sign of where the Clinton campaign is going, her aides are asserting that the winner will need 2,209 delegates, not 2,025.

That higher number reflects the full inclusion of Florida and Michigan, which held their primaries before the date permitted by the Democratic Party.

The goal of the Clinton campaign here is not just to get the delegate votes counted but also to get superdelegates to consider the popular vote Clinton won in those two states; in some calculations that would put her over the top.

The party's Rules and Bylaws Committee is meeting in Washington at the end of the month to vote on an effort by the Clinton campaign to permit the seating of the delegations.