When Iowa voters cast the first ballots of the presidential contest in January, prospects were dim that North Carolina would prove influential in the outcome of party nominations. Yet, on Tuesday, state voters may have helped end the Democratic Party contest in favor of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.

A resounding victory here, coupled with a razor-thin loss in Indiana, significantly dimmed the prospects of victory by U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, and set the stage for Obama to face U.S. Sen. John McCain in November. That should be a campaign of considerable substance and competing visions, the type of discourse this nation desperately needs.

Rare is the primary election that generates considerable interest or promises to make history, but Tuesday's vote in North Carolina delivered on both counts. Thousands of new voters fueled a record turnout, and one with memorable results from the top of the ticket to the bottom.

The Democratic Party's presidential nomination race generated the most buzz, and with cause. In the end, North Carolina handed Obama a significant margin of victory — more than 230,000 votes more than Clinton, equating to a 56-42 percentage win. And when the New York senator's strong showing in Indiana melted away in the early hours Wednesday as suburban Chicago votes poured in for Obama, the Democratic Party's nomination was all but sewn up.

Voters in North Carolina might be disappointed with the conduct of the Democrats' presidential campaign here. While Greenville did earn visits from both candidates, the issues of prominence — Obama's association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Clinton's curious embrace of a gas-tax holiday — hardly seemed the substantive discourse for which voters longed. And the two failed to agree on terms for a debate, despite the best efforts of state party officials.

But Tuesday night in Raleigh, Obama spoke to supporters confident that the North Carolina results had steadied his path to the general election. He sounded themes likely to echo throughout the campaign, about his vision for America and his policy differences with the presumptive Republican nominee. He was diligent, however, to speak highly of McCain's honorable record of military service and to speak highly of the Arizona senator.

One cannot expect the Democratic machine to be as kind to McCain in the coming months, nor for the Republican attacks to give quarter as the campaign proceeds. But one can hope the two men likely to battle for the White House will take the high road in that fight and then demand the same from their organizations.

Too often, American politics aims high and falls short. This country faces vast and complex problems — including the economy, the war and the future of health care — and those issues demand a thoughtful discussion and a reasoned choice in November. The tenor and substance of the campaign should reflect those expectations.