Obama faces big tests in North Carolina, Indiana

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama faces tests in the North Carolina and Indiana primaries this week that will help determine whether he has survived a rough patch and can finally defeat Hillary Clinton.

Democratic strategists believe Illinois Sen. Obama has weathered the worst month of his campaign as well as could be expected, given the attention over his former pastor's racially charged rhetoric and his own comments that small-town Americans are bitter and cling to guns and religion.

"He has taken a real hit, no question about it," said Democratic strategist Jim Duffy. "But he seems to be righting himself."

There was no bigger hit than a publicity tour by his longtime preacher, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Wright resurrected many of the themes that Obama thought he had already dealt with, including Wright's notion that the U.S. government spread the AIDS virus to wipe out black people. Obama, who would be the first American black president, was finally forced to make a public breach with Wright.

The blow to Obama's image prompted a fall in his overall numbers in national polls. A Pew Research Center poll last week said his 10-point lead over Clinton in March dwindled to between 45 and 47 percent.

All this has given New York Sen. Clinton reason to hope that she might find a path to overtake Obama's slim lead in nominating delegates who will determine which Democrat will face Republican John McCain in the November election.

HANGING AROUND