Billy Raymes, 29, assistant manager of a grocery store, praised Obama's response to the Wright controversy as honest and heartfelt. "I think too much is being made of it," he said.
Corinna Rios, 20, a psychology student at East Carolina University, chimed in: "I'm sick of hearing about it."
Obama is still expected to capture a much-needed victory in North Carolina after his difficult few weeks. His aides hope for a strong win in the nation's 10th-largest state -- and a solid showing in Indiana, which also votes Tuesday -- to ease concerns about his ability to forge a winning coalition against the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Although North Carolina's best-known Democrat -- former Sen. John Edwards, who dropped his own White House bid in January -- has not made a pick in the race, Obama is backed by most of the Democrats seeking statewide office this year. That includes the two major contenders seeking to succeed Democratic Gov. Mike Easley.
Easley, a NASCAR fan known locally as Gov. Bubba, made a splash last week by endorsing Clinton. But, unlike chief executives in some other states, he doesn't control a large political machine.
And in a sign of the rising tensions in the Democratic race, his embrace of Clinton earned him boos from Obama partisans Friday night at the state party's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, an event aimed at fostering unity.
North Carolina's racial demographics favor Obama. African Americans are likely to cast more than a third of the primary's ballots. Based on the pattern of overwhelming black support for Obama in other Southern states, Clinton would need two-thirds of the white vote to beat him -- a formidable task.
The economic angst that benefited Clinton in the Pennsylvania and Ohio primaries is not as prevalent in North Carolina.
The state's old economic base -- tobacco, textiles and furniture -- has given way to computers, pharmaceuticals and other high-tech industries.
The surging economy has slowed, but housing prices in Charlotte, the largest city, rose 3.6% last year, more than in any other city in the nation.
Still, state officials and political experts see cracks in Obama's once-solid firewall.
As elsewhere, white voters have become the key battleground group -- and Clinton appears to have made gains within this bloc.
