"Some people think the Democrats can't win in North Dakota, so we shouldn't put too much time in here," Obama told a crowd of more than 15,000. "I tell you what, we didn't fly over North Dakota. We landed."
Obama and Clinton both stepped away from Pennsylvania and other states with looming votes to speak to the North Dakota Democrats.
"We can't afford to give John McCain the chance to carry on George Bush's can't-do, won't-do, won't-even-try style of politics," Obama said. "We are a better country than that."
North Dakota's senior senator, Kent Conrad, was an early Obama supporter. The state ended up backing Obama overwhelmingly in its Feb. 5 caucuses. This weekend, Democrats will decide which people are sent as delegates to the party's national convention.
That creates the chance for last-minute maneuvering by the Clinton and Obama campaigns to pick up an extra delegate or two.
Clinton recently argued that pledged delegates aren't truly required by party rules to vote for a particular candidate.
The North Dakota delegates determined by caucus are split 8-5 for Obama. In addition, six of the state's seven unpledged superdelegates are backing the Illinois senator.
In his speech, delivered in a packed football arena, Obama mocked the Bush administration and stressed the midwestern roots of his mother and her parents. He even tried to adopt the local slang by exclaiming "Uff da" - a Scandinavian phrase that roughly translates to "wow."
Obama also mocked himself when accepting a hockey stick in honor of the University of North Dakota's team. He promised to give it a place of honor in his office but never to use it "because my hockey game is worse than my bowling."
