Clinton fighting on, dipping into own pockets (Roundup)

May 7, 2008, 18:14 GMT

Washington - Hillary Clinton's campaign, after failing to win decisively in primary contests a day earlier, revealed Wednesday that the former first lady poured more of her own money into the effort to keep her dwindling presidential ambitions alive.

Clinton returned to the campaign trail, holding a rally in West Virgina, where voters head to the polls Tuesday, and hoping a string of victories during the next month could tilt the Democratic nomination to her advantage.

But the chances for the New York senator to overcome rival Barack Obama diminished after primary elections Tuesday in North Carolina and Indiana.

Obama handily won North Carolina, while Clinton barely edged him out in Indiana - an outcome that prevented her from making up any ground in the delegate count and inched Obama closer to the nomination.

The Clinton campaign told reporters Wednesday that she had loaned an additional 6.4 million dollars to the campaign to keep pace with Obama, who has been pulling financial contributions at record levels and has easily outspent Clinton in the last three states to hold primaries.

Clinton told reporters in Shepherdstown, West Virgina, that she will stay in the race until there is a winner and said her personal contributions to the campaign reflected her commitment to take the White House.

'It's a sign of my commitment to this campaign. It's a sign of how much I believe what we are trying to do,' she said, dodging a question about how deep she'd be willing to go into her own pockets.

Clinton benefited from a surge in campaign funds after winning the crucial state of Pennsylvania April 22 by pulling in 10 million dollars, but she has hardly made a dent in Obama's war chest. Clinton had loaned 5 million to her campaign in February, bring her total contribution to 11.6 million dollars.

Obama's campaign said Tuesday's results made it increasingly unlikely Clinton could deprive him of the nomination and that he was on course to finish off the race.

'We believe it is exceedingly unlikely Senator Clinton will overtake our lead in the popular vote and in fact lost ground on that measure last night,' Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said.

Howard Wolfson, a Clinton campaign spokesman and strategist, conceded that Clinton, 60, needs 'to do well in West Virginia' against the African-American senator from Illinois on Tuesday. Voting wraps up in South Dakota and Montana on June 3.

Despite her razor-thin victory in Indiana, Wolfson insisted in an interview on MSNBC that Clinton's win showed again her ability to appeal to the 'working class voters that often abandon the Democratic Party' and who are needed to beat Republican Senator John McCain, 71, in the November 4 presidential election.

With only six contests remaining, it appears unlikely either candidate will be able to secure enough delegates in the state-by- state elections to clinch the nomination. That means the final decision will land in the hands of the party's so-called super delegates, a group of party elite who vote independently of the states.

Party insiders are worried that the split between the candidates will jeopardize the chances of unifying Democrats before the convention in August or possibly even by the time voters choose a president in November.

George McGovern, the Democrats' 1972 presidential candidate who lost to Richard Nixon, switched his support from Clinton to Obama Wednesday and called on the former first lady to quit the race.

'It is time for the Democrats to get united,' McGovern told Fox News.

A congressman from South Carolina, James Clyburn, the highest ranking black representative in the House of Representatives, insisted he will remain neutral in the race and welcomed Clinton's promise to not give up.

'Absolutely not,' he replied when asked whether Clinton should drop out, adding that the second-place candidate would have to help reconcile the party.

Clinton's campaign aide Wolfson repeated his candidate's vow to have the Michigan and Florida delegates seated at the national party convention in August in Denver, Colorado. They were banned from participating after the because the two states held their primaries earlier than allowed by the national party.

The Democratic National Committee is to meet May 30 and 31 to decide whether to seat the delegates. Clinton won in both populous states both primaries, even though she abided by party rules and did not campaign there. Her name was the only one of the major Democratic candidates to appear on the ballot.

Either candidate needs 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination, Obama led by 1,845 to 1,693 for Clinton, according to realclearpolitics.com.