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WASHINGTON (AP) -- White voters played a decisive role in Hillary Rodham Clinton's lopsided victory Tuesday in Kentucky's Democratic presidential primary. Barack Obama got the victory in more liberal Oregon, where race and the hard-edged rivalry between the two embattled candidates were muted.

Nearly nine in 10 of each state's voters were white, surveys of voters showed, but there the similarities ceased. Kentucky's less educated, less liberal, poorer and more rural population fit the profile of states where Clinton has done well, while Oregon's better schooled, more affluent and urban residents more resembled those that have delivered for him all year.

Even as Obama edges toward his party's nomination, Kentucky underscored his ongoing struggle to chip away at Clinton's dominance among whites -- including the better educated ones who have been a tossup group between the two rivals.

Sixty-three percent of white college graduates backed Clinton in Kentucky, according to exit polls of voters. Only in Arkansas have more favored Clinton among the 33 states that have held Democratic primaries in which both candidates competed.

Three quarters of whites who have not completed college -- a bulwark of Clinton support this year -- also backed the New York senator. She has seldom done better this year with those blue-collar white voters.

Just 45 percent of whites in Kentucky said they would vote for Obama in a matchup with John McCain in the general election -- underscoring a challenge facing Democrats in the fall campaign.

Racial attitudes were also striking. About one in five whites in Kentucky said race played a role in choosing their candidate -- on par with results in other Southern states. Nearly nine in 10 of that group backed Clinton -- the highest proportion yet among the 29 states where that question has been asked.

Only 29 percent of whites in the state who said race was a factor said they would vote for Obama should he oppose McCain in November.

All that contrasted with Oregon, where a majority of voters called themselves liberal.

According to telephone interviews with the state's voters, who cast all their ballots by mail, 57 percent of whites were backing Obama. The Illinois senator and Clinton were evenly dividing working-class whites -- those who have not finished college -- a group that has decisively stuck with Clinton in most states this year.

In addition, only one in 10 voters in Oregon said the race of the candidates was important, one of the lowest proportions in primary states this year. They were evenly divided between the two Democrats, but heavily backed Obama when he was pitted against McCain.

As the battle for the Democratic nomination finishes its fifth month, there were signs some voters are looking beyond the contest's end.

Just over half in Kentucky said they expect Obama to win the party's nomination -- including one in three Clinton backers. In Oregon, three quarters predicted Obama would be nominated, including just over half of those backing Clinton.

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