On Friday night, it reflected the aggression of the hardest-fought presidential primary race in decades. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke late Friday at Dorton Arena before a crowd of 5,000 charged-up, chanting party activists. Obama tried to hold his diminishing lead in North Carolina while Clinton mounted a late push to make the state "a game-changer."

The candidates were facing their most important audience in Tuesday's presidential primary: the powerful superdelegates who could determine the nomination, and activists who must decide whether to rally to the eventual winner.

For the first time in the North Carolina primary, Obama drew sharp contrasts between himself and Clinton. He said he had not accepted campaign contributions from political action committees and Washington lobbyists, or adopted poll-tested positions, and had always opposed the war in Iraq.

"Real changes have never been easy," Obama told a raucous crowd. "The status quo doesn't give up without a fight. The status quo in this country are not just Republicans."

Speaking first, Clinton chose not to attack Obama. Instead, she used her moment to portray herself as a champion for the middle class, promising to push for jobs, health care and an end to the war in Iraq.

The candidates clashed on suspending the federal gas tax during the summer. She wants to and he doesn't. It's the chief policy difference between her and Obama in the primary and the subject of a television ad airing across the state.

Obama said that the gas tax suspension would provide little relief, and that he had supported a broader tax cut for the middle class that people could use for their own purposes. Earlier in the day, Obama referred punningly to the summer gas tax holiday proposal as "a Shell game."

He used the tax holiday -- an idea that Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, also supports -- to illustrate the Democratic Party's need to set itself apart.

"When we're offering the same things that John McCain is offering on the cheap, that means we are not presenting a truthful response to the challenges we face in America," Obama said. "We can do better than that this time."

Despite their disagreements, both Clinton and Obama sought to ease the tension in the party during its marathon primary fight.

"If Senator Obama is the nominee, you better believe I will work my heart out for him," Clinton said. Obama offered a similar promise: "If Hillary Clinton were the nominee, I would support her in a heartbeat."

Lusty boos for Easley

But the sharp divisions were evident in the crowd, which leaned toward Obama.

There were scattered boos from Obama backers when Clinton discussed her gas-tax plan. And there was almost certainly a first in 78-year-history of the dinner -- lusty boos for a sitting Democratic governor. Gov. Mike Easley, who had endorsed Clinton earlier in the week, was jeered when he was introduced, and had to speak over scattered boos.

The dinner, just four days before the state primary, held more drama than most observers would have imagined a month ago.

There was almost the atmosphere of a ball game at Dorton Arena, with the two sides taking turns chanting "O-bam-a" and "Hill-a-ry."

Obama's once-commanding lead in the polls has been melting to single digits. That has made Clinton increasingly competitive in the largest state left before the Democratic convention in Denver in August.

Earlier in the week in Winston-Salem, Obama tried to put behind him the controversies surrounding his former pastor Jeremiah Wright. Obama said Wright's comments were "divisive and destructive" and did not reflect his own views.

Among other things, Wright had said that the United States was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, because it had engaged in terrorism. He said the government had used the AIDS virus to commit genocide against minorities.

"We've had a rough couple of weeks," Obama said earlier in the day in Charlotte.

Speaking to 9,000 people at Cricket Arena, Obama sought to defuse the criticism. "As we've done well in this election, we've been successful, increasingly my opponents have spent their time talking, not about the issues, but about me."

"They've been saying, 'Well, look at those crazy things his former pastor said, or he's not wearing a flag pin, or he's got a funny name, sounds like he's a Muslim. Those are the strategies to divide us. We've seen those strategies before."

'A game-changer'

If Obama was on the defensive, there was a bounce in Clinton's step Friday. And her campaign, seeing an opening in North Carolina, was pouring it on. Throughout the day Friday, the Clinton campaign kept adding campaign stops in North Carolina for today.

"This primary election on Tuesday is a game-changer," Clinton said in Kinston with Easley at her side.

"This is going to make a huge difference in what happens going forward. The entire country, probably even a lot of the world, is looking to see what North Carolina decides."

The mood among Obama supporters at the dinner was upbeat, but with a dose of concern.

"I think he is doing well," said Phyllis Blackard, 74, a retired school administrator from Brevard.

"He has hit a rough spot recently. But I think it will blow over."

Sarah Humphrey, a 60-year-old state employee from Raleigh, said, "I think it is going very well. He has had some backslide. I think he will get over the hump."

Clinton supporters were hopeful, having seen their candidate narrow the gap with Obama.

"I think it's been a great week for Hillary," said Sande Kirby, 54, a retired flight attendant from Wilmington. "As they said on CNN, the Reverend Wright has run his own person under the bus. The tide has turned."