WASHINGTON -- On the eve of primaries in North Carolina and Indiana, Barack Obama angled for an advantage on a second front yesterday, picking up pledges from two party leaders in Maryland to pull nearly even with Hillary Clinton in the race for superdelegates.
The timing of the announcement from Maryland Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor and Vice Chairman Lauren D. Glover reflected an effort by the Obama campaign to move the presidential nomination fight closer to an end - something they and the Clinton campaign acknowledge won't come through votes in primary states alone.
"I recognize that to do it today, prior to North Carolina and Indiana, is potentially impactful," Cryor said in an interview.
Since the campaign began, Clinton's clear edge among superdelegates - who are national convention delegates by virtue of their positions as elected and party officials - helped offset Obama's gains in primaries and caucuses. Obama, who leads in the overall delegate competition, appears on the verge of taking the superdelegate advantage, too.
As Indiana and North Carolina voters prepared to cast ballots in the biggest day left on the primary calendar, the candidates delivered last-minute pitches in both states.
A closing Clinton attack ad kept the focus on her plan for a gas-tax holiday and tried to portray Obama as out of touch with concerns of ordinary people.
"Hillary wants the oil companies to pay for the gas tax this summer - so you don't have to," said Clinton's ad. "Barack Obama wants you to keep paying; $8 billion in all."
Obama counterattacked with a video that accused the New York senator of offering "more of the same old negative politics."
Late polls showed Clinton ahead in Indiana, while Obama held a lead in North Carolina, where the contest has tightened over the past week.
Clinton has called North Carolina "a game-changer" that would "make a huge difference in what happens going forward" if she won. A leading Clinton supporter, James Carville, has said that she needs more than a tie in today's primaries to get the nomination and that winning both states would do that.
Behind those statements is the arithmetic of the nomination battle.
Obama leads in total delegates by 138, a margin that has changed little over the past two months. It isn't expected to be altered much by today's voting.
