Usually when you talk about polls in hoops-crazy Indiana and North Carolina, you’re referring to college basketball rankings. But today, all the “polling” talk has been associated with the two states’ important Democratic presidential primaries. Will tonight’s results finally settle it between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, or will the race for the Democratic nomination go on and on? If it continues, maybe they should battle it out on the basketball court and determine the nominee with a game of H-O-R-S-E.

Stay tuned here as the results roll in. …

UPDATE (7:19 p.m.): Clinton leads early in Indiana.

UPDATE (7:30 p.m.): Polls close in North Carolina, and Obama is called the winner.

UPDATE (8:24 p.m.): CBS News calls Indiana for Clinton. … As of 9 p.m., they’re still the only one to do so.

UPDATE (9:15 p.m.): In a speech from Raleigh, N.C., Obama congratulates Clinton on her apparent victory in Indiana.

UPDATE (10:18 p.m.): Lack of Lake County (Gary), Ind., results is what’s keeping networks (other than CBS), AP, and others from calling Indiana.

Former Hillary Clinton supporter Joe Andrew, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee appointed by Bill Clinton in 1999, has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama. With less than a week to go before the Indiana primary, the Indianapolis native urged other superdelegates to follow his lead and unify behind Obama: “[A] vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists [Republican] John McCain.” Andrew had been in the Clinton camp since she first announced her candidacy.

In losing Andrew, along with other recent gains by Obama, Clinton’s superdelegate lead has shrunk to just 15, 263-248. In overall delegates, Obama now leads 1,736.5 to 1,597.5 for Clinton, with 2,025 needed to win the nomination.

Hillary Clinton may have received the endorsement of North Carolina’s governor for next week’s primary, but her rival Barack Obama may have done her one better by getting the implied support of University of North Carolina men’s basketball coach Roy Williams and his Final Four Tar Heel team. Yesterday, while Clinton was hobnobbing with Gov. Mike Easley, Obama scrimmaged with the Heels, at one point missing a layup after driving by consensus National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough. When Obama wasn’t getting enough passes his way, Williams yelled out from the sidelines : “You’ve got the future president of the United States wide open.”

In being present at such a pick-up game involving his players during the off-season, Williams was technically in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA, however, made an exception in this case. “This was a unique situation and not an NCAA issue,” NCAA Media Relations Director Erik Christianson told The News & Observer. “It certainly was a great opportunity for the student-athletes to interact with a presidential candidate.”

It may not have concerned the NCAA, but rumors are now circulating that many of the Tar Heel faithful who are either Clinton or McCain supporters have gone over to the dark side and have become Duke fans.

While most pundits have conceded next Tuesday’s Democratic primary in North Carolina to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton picked up a key endorsement today in the Tar Heel state: Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. “There’s been lots of ‘Yes we can, yes we should,’” Easley said this morning with Clinton by his side. “Hillary Clinton is ready to deliver.” The two Democrats running to replace Easley as governor, Richard Moore and Bev Perdue, have endorsed Obama, which was the focus of the controversial TV ad produced by the N.C. GOP that was in the news last week.

After spending $15 million in Pennsylvania in the past month and logging hours on the road across the Keystone State, the two Democratic candidates traded just a dozen delegates.

Clinton’s victory, though nearly a full 10 points in the popular vote, was hardly substantial where it counted.  The situation mirrored Texas, which Hillary actually lost in the delegate count, and Super Tuesday’s races, all of which left the campaign nearly unchanged. The election has cost Obama and Clinton together over $350 million to-date with virtually inconclusive results continuously plaguing the race.

Though Hillary did not gain much ground on Obama this week, she did win two critical victories: she cut Obama’s popular vote lead by 25% and picked up a much needed wave of momentum. Almost as important for Hillary has been signs that Obama is wearing down. (His hair is even graying.) His uncharacteristic miscues, such as the comment about rural Pennsylvanians, are leading some Democrats to think that if he can’t go the distance in the primary, how could he withstand the presidency?

Financial expenditures and aging aside, the basic math is in Obama’s favor right now. Given a best case scenario in the remaining primaries, Hillary will still be well short of taking the lead (considering polls in Indiana and North Carolina). The contest will eventually come down to superdelegates, of which she will need 70% to 75% of the remaining undeclared. Unfortunately she has only gotten 4% of the pledged superdelegates since March.

This has led to many calls for Hillary to exit and allow Obama to focus on McCain. But Slate Magazine says Hillary has “every right to stay in the primary race for as long as she wishes” because she could capture the popular vote and sway the superdelegates. Yet, even if she were to win the popular vote, would superdelegates truly strip Obama of the nomination he leads by the party’s rules?

Considering superdelegates are the most important voters now, Democrats will basically be spending money on themselves under the guise of primary elections. The situation would almost be comical if one didn’t consider all the other things $15 million could have bought. How many uninsured Americans could get healthcare from the next $100 million spent in this campaign?

The polls have closed in Pennsylvania, and no winner is being projected as of yet.

Here’s some exit polling data from the Associated Press.

Feel free to comment on this key battle in the Keystone State as the results roll in …

UPDATE (8:45 p.m.): Fox News has projected Hillary Clinton the winner …

UPDATE (8:58 p.m.): AP agrees. … Now we wait to see by how much …

UPDATE (9:04 p.m.): CNN joins the bandwagon and proclaims a Clinton victory …

UPDATE (11:15 p.m.): With 85 percent of the vote in, Clinton’s up 55 percent to 45 percent …

North Carolina Dems will have to go to the polls on May 6 without a debate in their state between the party’s top two front-runners. The state Democratic Party announced today that the face-off between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton scheduled for this coming Sunday evening on CBS has been called off, mainly because Obama would not commit to doing it. It also means that CBS anchor Katie Couric will likely go the entire primary season without moderating a debate.

A lot has been said and written about Barack Obama’s “bitterness” remarks. Writing from a Christian theological perspective, Albert Mohler delves into what he calls “the real issue” here:

“… Sen. Obama has given us a near-perfect expression of a functional view of religious belief. In other words, Sen. Obama said that “religion” is a coping mechanism for hard times — lumping religion with other issues his audience members were presumably to find strange and alien.

A functional view of belief assumes or “brackets” the question of whether the beliefs are true. One who holds to a purely functionalist view of religious conviction is not concerned with the truthfulness of these beliefs, but only with the effects the beliefs have on the believer, both privately and in social contexts.

No one but God knows Sen. Obama’s heart, but we are left with his words. In this case, the words are very similar to what is so often heard from political figures. When speaking of their own faith they often speak of how it functions. Sen. Clinton spoke this way at the “Compassion Forum” at Messiah College on Sunday night, but we must note that Republicans often speak the same way — valuing “faith” as if faith has no object.

Read Dr. Mohler’s entire post here.

During yesterday’s Democratic presidential debate (unlike her trip to Bosnia), Hillary Clinton came under fire. The moderators scrutinized her foggy memory regarding the now infamous Balkans blunder. In response, she admitted she made a mistake and said her statement “didn’t jive” with what she “knew to be the truth.”

Clinton is not alone when it comes to seeking the public’s pardon. Last month, former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer apologized for his involvement in an embarrassing, expensive sex scandal. Just west of New York City in New Jersey, that state’s former governor, Jim McGreevey, gave a similar speech four years ago.

Such speeches aren’t limited to politics. New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte recently apologized incessantly for using human growth hormone (HGH). Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pled guilty to felony dog fighting charges this summer and quickly asked for forgiveness. And just this week, Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony said he was “truly sorry” after being arrested for a DUI.

These situations, especially the one including Pettitte who is a professing Christian, bring up an interesting question: When public figures say they are sorry, do we forgive them?

Most people automatically answer “yes.” Jesus taught we should always be willing to forgive, even those who continually wrong us. Answering the question of how much, he said “seventy-seven times.”

But for others, forgiveness fades and hostilities rise when Hillary discusses Iraq, when sports stars abuse their status, or when governors spend $15,000 on prostitutes. In a recent blog post on nationalreview.com, Jack Dunphy said he would rather “leave the forgiving to others.” His stance is more popular.

Cal Thomas counters that forgiveness may be our most powerful tool:

[Forgiveness] is a concept virtually unknown in our take-no-prisoners culture. So much rhetoric today is angry and judgmental and condemning. So much is about defeating the other person, taking revenge and demanding entitlements. … [T]he power of forgiveness—especially when forgiveness is not asked for—has a power that no one else can touch.

Shelby Steele, author of A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can’t Win, sat down with Dennis Prager; Rudy Giuliani makes the case for John McCain for president; Hillary Clinton caught in another lie? Mike Gallagher explains; Harry Reid says that paying taxes is voluntary. Dennis Prager breaks down the lunacy. Listen here.