Obamas victories have Clinton working to reassure donors, superdelegates
               
For Clinton, Bid Hinges on Texas and Ohio
Seeking Unity, Obama Feels Pull of Racial Divide
With 3 States Set to Vote, a Dash About Chesapeake
Virginias Diversity Offers a Challenge to Democrats
For McCain, Losses Signal Challenges
By Patrick Healy
updated 9:17 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 11, 2008
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers increasingly believe that, after a series of losses, she has been boxed into a must-win position in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4, and she has begun reassuring anxious donors and superdelegates that the nomination is not slipping away from her, aides said Monday.
Mrs. Clinton held a buck-up-the-troops conference call on Monday with donors, superdelegates and other supporters; several of them said afterward that she sounded tired and a little down, but determined about Ohio and Texas. And these donors and superdelegates said that they were not especially soothed, saying they believed she could be on a losing streak that could jeopardize her competitiveness in Ohio and Texas.
She has to win both Ohio and Texas comfortably, or shes out, said one Democratic superdelegate who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a candid assessment. The campaign is starting to come to terms with that. Campaign advisers, also speaking privately in order to speak plainly, confirmed this view.
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Several Clinton superdelegates, whose votes could help decide the nomination, also said Monday that they were wavering in the face of Mr. Obamas momentum after victories in Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana and Maine last weekend. Some of them said that they, like the hundreds of uncommitted superdelegates still at stake, may ultimately go with the flow, in the words of one, and support the candidate who appears to show the most strength in the primaries to come.
Clinton advisers have said that superdelegates should support the candidate who they believe is best qualified to be president, while Obama advisers have argued that superdelegates should reflect the will of voters and the best interests of the party. Superdelegates are Democratic party leaders and elected officials, and their votes could decide the nomination if neither candidate wins enough delegates to clinch a victory after the nominating contests end.
               
For Clinton, Bid Hinges on Texas and Ohio
Seeking Unity, Obama Feels Pull of Racial Divide
With 3 States Set to Vote, a Dash About Chesapeake
Virginias Diversity Offers a Challenge to Democrats
For McCain, Losses Signal Challenges
By Patrick Healy
updated 9:17 p.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 11, 2008
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers increasingly believe that, after a series of losses, she has been boxed into a must-win position in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4, and she has begun reassuring anxious donors and superdelegates that the nomination is not slipping away from her, aides said Monday.
Mrs. Clinton held a buck-up-the-troops conference call on Monday with donors, superdelegates and other supporters; several of them said afterward that she sounded tired and a little down, but determined about Ohio and Texas. And these donors and superdelegates said that they were not especially soothed, saying they believed she could be on a losing streak that could jeopardize her competitiveness in Ohio and Texas.
She has to win both Ohio and Texas comfortably, or shes out, said one Democratic superdelegate who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a candid assessment. The campaign is starting to come to terms with that. Campaign advisers, also speaking privately in order to speak plainly, confirmed this view.
Story continues below ↓advertisement
Several Clinton superdelegates, whose votes could help decide the nomination, also said Monday that they were wavering in the face of Mr. Obamas momentum after victories in Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana and Maine last weekend. Some of them said that they, like the hundreds of uncommitted superdelegates still at stake, may ultimately go with the flow, in the words of one, and support the candidate who appears to show the most strength in the primaries to come.
Clinton advisers have said that superdelegates should support the candidate who they believe is best qualified to be president, while Obama advisers have argued that superdelegates should reflect the will of voters and the best interests of the party. Superdelegates are Democratic party leaders and elected officials, and their votes could decide the nomination if neither candidate wins enough delegates to clinch a victory after the nominating contests end.








