Obama and Clinton chart endgame to primary battle

NEW YORK -- Two weeks before the final primary in their marathon battle, Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton were campaigning hard Wednesday. Both were in Florida, but their goals could hardly have been more different -- or said more about how each one hopes to bring their historic race to a close.

Obama, feeling sure of the Democratic nomination, was trying to stake an early claim to a state that could be crucial in the general election against Republican John McCain. Clinton, insisting she can still be her party's nominee, was making an impassioned plea for the state's disputed primary results to be counted.

Obama plans to contest the final three primaries in Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Montana, but he is already moving on, well into the early stages of a general election plan that will take him to other critical swing states in the coming weeks.

His campaign was offering some new delegate math -- before the last votes were cast.

Because of how the party allocates its delegates, Obama almost certainly cannot win the nomination based on the 86 pledged delegates yet to be claimed in the final three contests. But his advisers project that he needs just 25 to 28 more superdelegates to come aboard by the end of the primaries to put him over the top.

The campaign's estimate was confirmed through a separate tabulation by The Associated Press.

As for Clinton, aides said she has two immediate goals: to see the results of the Florida and Michigan primaries restored, and to persuade the remaining uncommitted superdelegates that she would be the better candidate in November against McCain.

While she has signaled that the race will soon end after the final primaries June 3, Clinton is also counting on a meeting of the Democratic Party's rules committee May 31 to bring an end to the dispute over Michigan and Florida, whose delegates were stripped after they violated party rules by moving up their contests.

If the committee does not satisfactorily resolve the matter, the New York senator hinted Wednesday she would support a drawn-out battle that could go to the party's convention in August.

"Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this," Clinton said when asked whether her campaign would support Michigan and Florida if they pressed the issue into the summer.

Still, all signs overwhelmingly indicate that Obama will emerge as the Democratic standard-bearer.

A handful of superdelegate endorsements Wednesday on top of primary results in Kentucky and Oregon have brought him within striking distance of claiming the nomination -- the Illinois senator is 64 delegates from the 2,026 needed under Democratic Party rules as well as close to becoming the first black nominee of a major party.

In the past, primary results have touched off a wave of superdelegates. It was just a few Wednesday. Privately, Obama strategists said they believed a number were still inclined to wait until after the primaries are over out of respect for the Clintons, who remain major figures within the party.

Joe Andrew, a former DNC chairman and superdelegate who switched allegiance from Clinton to Obama, said that while Obama reaching the majority of pledged delegates was a symbolic moment, "delegates aren't just looking for moments. They are looking for reasons to make a decision that many of them know that is probably inevitable."

He added that until the race ends, "I think they will portray themselves as genuinely torn. I don't mean to say they are play acting. I think most of them in their gut have made their decision. I think they are torn about how to explain that decision and when they should announce."

With Obama's near-certain victory in sight, both sides are now urging unity with the hope of putting the often rancorous primary season behind them.

While little formal outreach has gone on between the two camps -- Obama's out of caution for appearing disrespectful, Clinton's because she is still campaigning -- advisers on both sides said they will be ready to talk when the time comes.

"I don't know anyone in either the Hillary Clinton or the Obama worlds who has not publicly said and privately believed that we will all come together for the sake of the Democratic nominee," Clinton national finance co-chairman Hassan Nemazee said.

But, he added, "There's a dance that goes on in this. The Obama people in recent weeks have become far more careful in what they say and do in a way that is not overly presumptive."

Several major fundraisers for both campaigns have already joined forces to raise money for the Democratic National Committee that will go toward promoting the eventual nominee. An event in New York honoring former Vice President Al Gore will take place May 31 co-chaired by prominent Obama and Clinton backers, with all proceeds going to the DNC.

At least one committed Clinton hand -- her former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle -- has spoken to the Obama campaign about coming aboard after he secures the nomination. But most of her staff and close advisers remain deeply loyal to the New York senator and say they plan to stay with her as long as she is in the race.

In the meantime, Obama deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand has begun scouting organizers to oversee individual states in the general election. But he said the campaign had not yet approached any Clinton staffers.

"It would be a little disingenuous for us to call and talk to employees of the Clinton campaign when they are still in a battle against us," Hildebrand said. "Barack has stated specifically that it's important we're respectful and that we handle things at the appropriate time."

As is traditional for the presidential nominee of each party, Obama has already moved to put his own staff in place at the Democratic National Committee. His advisers said Paul Tewes, who planned and ran Obama's victorious Iowa caucus strategy, is Obama's choice to take the reins at the committee once the Illinois senator wins the nomination.

He's also brought aboard a couple of notable staff hires, including Linda Douglass, a former ABC news correspondent who will serve as a message strategist and spokeswoman. Her appointment was seen as a smart move for a campaign with few women in visible roles.