New York Senator Hillary Clinton and IL Sen. Barack Obama split the differenence last night in the North Carolina & Indiana primaries, with Sen. Obama drawing a huge 56%-42% victory in the Tarheel State and Clinton squeaking to victory in the Hoosier State, 51%-49%.

Clinton was defiant in her speech to supporters last night, pledging to fight on to West Virginia and Kentucky, and pressing for the inclusion of Florida and Michigan in the delegate counts.  But as numerous pundits have noted, Clinton fundraising has slacked in recent weeks as many donors grow skeptical of her chances.  Word comes today that the Senator has made another loan to her campaign of $6.4 million dollars - on top of a previous $5 million loan earlier in the year.  The Clintons are on the ropes.

This is not the case for Sen. Barack Obama - the self-described ”skinny African-American with a funny name”.  With the tough Pennsylvania defeat now behind him, a better than expected win in North Carolina, and a surprisingly good Indiana showing, the media has covered Obama as though he had clinched the nomination - this despite the fact that the spread in delegate counts between the two candidates is almost the same as it was pre-Pennsylvania.  Nonetheless, the Big Mo’, as they say, is clearly with the Obama campaign and the decisive superdelegates are getting the messages.