Washington: Bolstering his claim further for the Democratic nomination for the November presidential polls, frontrunner Barack Obama has clinched the key North Carolina primary which had 115 delegates at stake.

The emphatic win of Obama means more trouble for rival Hillary Clinton, who is trailing him by a considerable in elected delegates count. The New York Senator was, however, leading in Indiana primary, which has 72 delegates.

Of the total number in North Carolina, Obama was expected to walk away with at least 55 per cent of pledged delegates, the rest going to Clinton in a proportional distribution system.

Exit polls showed that whereas Obama came away with 91 per cent of the African-American vote, Clinton was at an extremely poor six per cent in that category.

However, she walked away with nearly 60 per cent of the white vote with African-American Senator getting just 37 per cent.

Some analysts maintained that overall Senator Obama had put together a bi-racial coalition in North Carolina.

When polling began last morning, Obama was maintaining an eight-point lead in North Carolina, substantially down from the nearly 20-point advantage he posted a few weeks ago.

However, Clinton advisers had admitted that a win in North Carolina would have been the "dream" of the century.

With Obama's critical victory, the argument is already being made that even if Clinton stays in the race and she has said that there was absolutely no question of quitting there was no way she would catch up with the Illinois Senator.

Source : PTI