New polls have given US Democrat Hillary Clinton fresh hope as she chases White House rival Barack Obama.
The presidential hopefuls are on the eve of two primaries which could shape the end-game of their marathon battle.
The Democratic rivals set off on last minute campaign swings through Indiana and North Carolina, which hold primaries tomorrow that offer Senator Obama the chance to finally knock Hillary Clinton out, or for her to ignite a comeback.
Barack Obama who leads Senator Clinton in pledged delegates, and nominating contests won, seems to have a mathematical lock on the nomination, but appeared resigned to battling on until the bitter end of the primary calendar.
He said that the last contest is on 3 June, and he is confident that he and Senator Clinton will be competing in all those contests.
A new USA Today poll out today suggested that Senator Obama had been damaged by the fallout of racially tinged remarks by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright.
For the first time in three months, the former first lady led her rival in the survey of national Democrats, by seven percentage points.
Two weeks ago before the latest storm over Rev Wright hit, Barack Obama was up 10 points.
A new CBS/New York Times poll yesterday however suggested Senator Obama had started to recover from the Rev Wright furore, giving him an 11-point lead over Republican candidate John McCain, 51-40.
Last Tuesday, that hypothetical matchup had been tied. Hillary Clinton led John McCain in the same poll by 12 points.
Another poll, by Suffolk University in Indiana, showed the New York senator leading Senator Obama in the state by six points 49% to 43%.
Analysts say Hillary Clinton needs to take the midwestern state at least to halt a flow of Democratic party support to Barack Obama, and stay in the race.
Senator Obama still led in another battleground, North Carolina, where Hillary Clinton and her husband former president Bill Clinton have been campaigning feverishly.
Hillary Clinton's camp admits she cannot overhaul Barack Obama in the count of pledged delegates who will formally anoint the nominee at the convention in August.
She is pinning her hopes on a collapse in Senator Obama's support, hoping it will convince party bosses, or superdelegates to conclude the Illinois senator cannot beat Republican John McCain in November.
