Good things came to state that waited

With a late primary, N.C. got to be kingmaker in Democrats' bid

WASHINGTON (Winston-Salem Journal) - North Carolina's presidential primary held an important lesson for states that rushed to move up their contests this year: Sometimes, it pays to be patient.

As Barack Obama's grip on the Democratic nomination solidifies, political analysts point to three pivotal moments in the long campaign that put him over the top: his victory in the first contest in Iowa; his string of nine straight wins in mid-February that gave him a delegate lead from which Hillary Clinton never recovered; and the apparent knockout blow he dealt her in North Carolina.