(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-05 23:18

GREENVILLE, NC -- Resolute rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama straddled North Carolina and Indiana on Monday on the eve of a pair of crucial primaries in the unceasing contest for the Democratic presidential nomination.

The two darted back to North Carolina for some last-minute campaigning, with polls showing Clinton chipping away at Obama's advantage here. It was a brief diversion from the more competitive Indiana, where both planned to return by nightfall.

"In the end of the day, you don't hire a president to make speeches, you hire a president to solve problems," Clinton told a couple hundred people in a gymnasium at Pitt Community College, pressing her claim of experience.

She also kept up her populist pitch and call for a summertime suspension of the federal gas tax to help people facing rising fuel prices. "Let's listen to what the people are telling us," Clinton said, "because if we listen, we will hear this incredible cry."

Elsewhere, Obama campaigned among white, blue-collar workers in Evansville, Ind., before flying to North Carolina. The Democratic front-runner noted that the polls are very tight and the day's schedule had him "bouncing back and forth" between the two states.

"We're working as hard as we can and I desperately want every single vote here, in North Carolina and in Indiana," the Illinois senator said during an appearance at a construction site.

Later at a labor hall, Obama said he would make good on his campaign pledges. "I'm going to be a partner with you," he said. "I'm going to be following through. But I need your help."

In both states, Obama was trying to recover from a difficult period and put Clinton away after a difficult 16-month fight that has split the party. The former first lady, meanwhile, hoped to hang in the race with a win in one, maybe two states.

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