By Michael H. Cottman

For Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Tuesday's crucial primaries in North Carolina and Indiana could help elevate one candidate to the title of Democratic nominee, and perhaps reduce the other to an eventual political footnote.

Here's what's clear: If Obama wants to take on Republican John McCain in November, he needs to win North Carolina with strong support from blue-collar workers and suburban whites who are rallying around Clinton. And Clinton must win Indiana and keep North Carolina close to press her case to super delegates that she's the stronger candidate.

If either candidate wins both primaries Tuesday, it could perhaps provide the necessary momentum to secure the nomination.

Obama squeaked out a victory Saturday in the Guam primary by seven votes - 2,264 votes to 2,257and increased his lead over Clinton with pledged delegates - 1,742 to 1,607 - in a campaign where every delegate will count. He now trails Clinton by only 19 super delegates.

There's no doubt that voters in North Carolina and Indiana will continue to associate Obama with his former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright as they head to the polls. In an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll, 53 percent of whites who have not completed college now view Obama unfavorably.

It's the Wright factor - a timely mess that gives some white voters who are on the fence a convenient excuse not to vote for Obama.

Speaking on NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday, Obama was questioned for the first 15 minutes of the broadcast about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's negative impact on his campaign.

"Hopefully," Obama said, "we can put this behind us."

But when can Obama really end the controversy when he's asked about Wright at every turn? When are the weekly denunciations of Wright enough? 

"It's distracted us," Obama said of Wright on "Meet The Press." "We ended up spending a lot of time talking about Rev. Wright instead of talking about gas prices, good prices and the situation in Iraq."

At some point, the core issues that impact Americans every day - jobs, education, health care - must be discussed over the noise - the distractions of the moment.

"It's the stuff about his preacher..," Keith Wolfe, 41, a supermarket food stocker from Parkville, Md., told reporters. "I don't think he'd be a really good leader."

Obama said Americans have the right "to lift the hood and kick the tires" because when running for president, his life is "an open book." But he asked that voters put the episode in the context of his 20 years of community service.

After Tuesday, there are five primaries left ending on June 3 -- still time to talk about uplifting families in need and devising a clear plan for affordable housing and comprehensive health care.

During the next four weeks, can voters move beyond stale stories and focus more on issues that truly matter in their lives?      

Perhaps it's folks like Mr. Wolfe who really know for sure.