The primary season was constructed so that Super Tuesday, which occurred this year aeons ago back on February 5, was supposed to be decisive in indicating a winner. This would make it easier to consolidate the party behind the nominee and get a head start on the general election.

It went that way for John McCain, who emerged as the surprising leader in the originally crowded Republican field. But for the Democrats, a funny thing happened on the way to the convention. It became clear some time ago that there will be no decisive winner, only a marginal frontrunner and a party battle that’s shaping up to be remarkably divisive in a year that was supposed to be (pardon the phrase) a cakewalk.

So today voters go to the polls in Indiana and North Carolina to cast ballots in primaries that are often just afterthoughts but this year have the potential for extreme importance. If either candidate wins both, the tide of superdelegates who hold the keys to the convention may turn more strongly his/her way. If the states split, which seems most likely, the bloodletting will almost undoubtedly continue.

Polls show Indiana as too close to call, and indicate a commanding lead for Obama in North Carolina: 51% to Hillary’s 37%. But hidden in these statistics is the fact that 12% of voters in both states either favor another candidate or were still undecided at the time of questioning. That means that, if previous late-breaking trends toward Hillary hold up, she could end up winning decisively in Indiana and closing the gap considerably in North Carolina.

If this happens, it might sweeten her attempt to woo the superdelegates away from Obama. And of course if that happens, the party stands to alienate one of its most loyal and trusted constituencies, African-Americans, a group the Democrats can hardly afford to lose.

It’s enough to make me happy I’m no longer a Democrat.

[ADDENDUM: Glenn Reynolds points out that the last time the Indiana primary mattered was in 1968. Hmmm.]