GOLDSBORO, N.C. -- Swaddled in pine forests and farmers' fields, this sleepy county seat is known for its hickory-smoked barbecue, its Civil War battles and a chilling Cold War footnote: In 1961, a crippled B-52 dropped two thermonuclear bombs into a nearby swamp.

Thankfully, they did not explode.

But Goldsboro, like scores of other North Carolina towns, is making fresh history. Statewide, in an early voting program that ended Saturday, more than 337,000 voters have cast ballots in the hard-fought Democratic presidential primary between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

"It's really bringing people out," Erin Burridge, deputy director of the Wayne County Board of Elections, said enthusiastically as she surveyed a line of voters that doubled back behind the local library.

"We're getting a lot of individuals who have never voted before."

It is unclear whether Obama will enjoy the sweeping victory that he has been hoping for after the rest of the state's voters go to the polls on Tuesday. His long-commanding lead in opinion polls has shrunk significantly as he has struggled to distance himself from his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

One sign of the damage: News of Obama's sweaty morning workout last Tuesday with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, a basketball team with near-divine status here, wasn't on front pages.

Wright is a problem for Obama in the state, said Andrew Taylor, chairman of political science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

"Where it's hurting him most is [among] white middle-class Democrats in suburban areas who have supported him elsewhere," Taylor said.

"They're having second thoughts because of this."

The Wright controversy was topicNo. 1 for many Democrats who cast ballots Friday in Goldsboro.

"If he was going to denounce his pastor, he should have done it long ago," Dorothy Summerlin, 61, a construction company office worker, said after she had voted for Clinton. "I don't believe him now."

John Pate, a retired state law enforcement officer, and his wife, Dorothy, voted for Clinton, whom he called the "lesser of two evils."

Obama's affiliation with Wright "made a big difference," his wife said.

But Judy West, 56, who runs a dress shop, dismissed the issue as irrelevant. "Rev. Wright doesn't speak for Barack," she said after voting for Obama.

Billy Raymes, 29, assistant manager of a grocery store, praised Obama's response to the Wright controversy as honest and heartfelt. "I think too much is being made of it," he said.

Corinna Rios, 20, a psychology student at East Carolina University, chimed in: "I'm sick of hearing about it."

Obama is still expected to capture a much-needed victory in North Carolina after his difficult few weeks. His aides hope for a strong win in the nation's 10th-largest state -- and a solid showing in Indiana, which also votes Tuesday -- to ease concerns about his ability to forge a winning coalition against the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Although North Carolina's best-known Democrat -- former Sen. John Edwards, who dropped his own White House bid in January -- has not made a pick in the race, Obama is backed by most of the Democrats seeking statewide office this year. That includes the two major contenders seeking to succeed Democratic Gov. Mike Easley.

Easley, a NASCAR fan known locally as Gov. Bubba, made a splash last week by endorsing Clinton. But, unlike chief executives in some other states, he doesn't control a large political machine.