“Dragnet,” a hit television series, always opened with Webb saying, “My name is Friday; I carry a badge.”

Friday also liked to say, “All we want are the facts.” With the remaining presidential primaries, followed by November’s general election, voters need to get past the hype and start focusing on the facts.

The battle to see who will occupy the White House for the next four years will soon wind down to two candidates. For the Democrats, it will be either Hillary Clinton or Barrack Obama. The Republicans will nominate John McCain.

I predicted in this column that Clinton would win the Pennsylvania primary comfortably. She won by 10 points.  She should win Indiana by a similar margin.

In North Carolina, where Obama is predicted to win easily, the race will be much closer than expected. Public Policy Polling had Obama with an 18-25 point lead over Clinton earlier in April. As the primary date nears, Clinton has cut his lead in half, trailing now by 12 points.

The North Carolina primary could end up even closer than that — especially if the Rev. Jeremiah Wright continues to make incendiary comments like the ones made recently at National Press Club in Washington.

Clinton’s recent gains have come from white voters. Since the Pennsylvania primary, Clinton’s lead in North Carolina with this group has expanded to a margin of 56-35 over Obama. Unless Obama can effectively separate himself from Rev. Wright, that trend is likely to continue.

Pre-election and exit polling in the past have been relatively accurate barometers of election results. In this year’s Democratic primaries, they haven’t. On election night the network television “talking-heads” are now delaying calling their projected winner for fear of getting it wrong. Why?

Polling data has proven to be less than accurate, perhaps because voters polled are hiding racial and/or gender prejudice when asked whom they support. Given that the Democrats will either nominate the first woman or the first black candidate for president, I suspect this supposition could have more merit than has been reported in most of the mainstream media.

By almost any standard of measurement, this should be a Democratic year. An out-of-favor Republican president has occupied the Oval Office for eight years. The war in Iraq is unpopular. A mortgage crisis has sent the economy teetering on the edge of a recession. But in this year of many firsts, this may not be enough for the Democrats to win the presidency.

Had the Democrats selected a more mainstream and less polarizing candidate — someone perhaps like Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh — the donkeys could have put this election in the bank. Obama and Clinton enjoy strong support from their core liberal base. But arguably either candidate may not have the crossover appeal in a general election to woo Republican and Democratic moderates along with a significant numbers of independents needed to win on Nov. 4.

Most of America still leans to the right and center while Clinton and Obama tilt significantly to the left. After the primaries when the Democratic nominee is chosen, he or she will try to scramble back to the political center. The Republicans will likely thwart those attempts by reminding voters of the inconsistencies in their opponent’s message.
Assuming McCain can secure the trust advantage, will that be enough? He will still have to convince a majority of Americans that he would be the more pragmatic and time-tested choice for president.

Let’s compare the three remaining candidates on some of the issues.

There aren’t any real political differences between Clinton and Obama. Both support raising the capital gains tax, rescinding the Bush tax cuts, granting amnesty to illegal aliens, supporting partial-birth abortions, raising taxes to provide universal health care, support same-sex marriage and oppose school vouchers. They also are in favor of restricting our Second Amendment right to bear arms and gutting the Patriot Act, which has been an invaluable tool in keeping America safe from terrorist attacks.

McCain supports maintaining the capital gains tax at its current 15 percent rate and making the Bush tax cuts permanent. He is the author of the surge in Iraq, which appears to be turning the tide there, and supports staying the course until the mission is completed. He is opposed to amnesty for illegal aliens and partial-birth abortions. He supports health care reform, but not universal health care in government-mandated programs. McCain does support a government-sponsored option for catastrophic coverage.

McCain also opposes any effort to water down the right to bear arms and he strongly supports the continuation of the Patriot Act. While not in favor of same sex marriage, McCain does favor allowing partners to share benefits. He also favors school vouchers.

Between now and November, pay close attention to what both the Republican and Democratic candidates claim they believe, what they promise, and how they’ll pay for those promises. Remember, Joe Friday just wanted the facts. And so should you.