CBS first to declare primary outcome

NEW YORK -- CBS News on Tuesday night called the Indiana primary for Sen. Hillary R. Clinton while its rival networks said it was too close to call.

It was 8:09 p.m. when CBS News made its projection, well before the other networks were either comfortable or ready to say that Clinton had emerged victorious from the state. ABC, NBC, Fox and CNN spent all of the 8 p.m. hour and into the 9 p.m. hour saying it was too close to call.

The cable news channels still did that despite the fact that Sen. Barack Obama, in his speech from Raleigh, N.C., all but conceded Indiana to Clinton.

"I'd like to congratulate Sen. Clinton on what appears to be her victory in the great state of Indiana," Obama said around 9:10 p.m. ET in a speech that was televised live on Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC.

Meanwhile through the 9 p.m. hour, while Obama spoke and Clinton prepared to speak, the New York senator's margin continued to shrink. MSNBC quoted an Obama campaign aide who said that the Indiana primary might go to Clinton with as little as 15,000 votes, or 1%.

The networks still continued to hedge their bets during Obama's speech, even while acknowledging that Obama had conceded.

"We're still not prepared to call Indiana," Fox News Channel's Brit Hume said after Obama's speech around 9:30 p.m. ET. "The margin was once 14% but as you can see from the screen it's now 4%."

Just before 9 p.m., NBC News political director Chuck Todd explained that the counties near the Illinois border and that encompass Indianapolis in the center of the state still hadn't been heard from. He said that there was the possibility that the results from those predominantly African American counties could make the race too close to call even though at the moment, Clinton had an 8 percentage point lead.

Fox News Channel, which has been aggressive and correct in its projections so far this season, also declined to call the race. Contributor Michael Barone told Hume around 9 p.m. ET that there were contradictory projections based on models for turnout.

"It's going to depend on Lake County in Northwest Indiana," Barone said. "We don't have any answers on how Lake County voted yet."

Hume later said that some of the crucial votes hadn't been counted yet and that Obama could make up the margin.

"We don't expect that but it's certainly possible," Hume said.

For its part, CNN's analysts questioned whether Tuesday's votes could justify Clinton continuing with her campaign.

"They're going to need a lot of money," said Gloria Borger. "It's hard to raise money if people don't think you can actually (win)." NBC News' Tim Russert said that the Clinton campaign wanted and needed an early win in Indiana and a close race in North Carolina.

"The dynamic now is the exact opposite," Russert said.

However, there was no question that Obama had carried North Carolina and by a wide margin. "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric announced at 7:30 p.m. that it had projected North Carolina in Obama's column. Later, CBS News' Jeff Greenfield noted that at the end of the night, nothing had changed much.

"We are where we are, and we go on," Greenfield said.

Couric countered: "It feels like Groundhog Day."