HILLARY Clinton has hit back at calls for her to quit the Democratic primary race, as polls show that she is losing ground to Barack Obama.
The senator told a rally of supporters in Indiana: "There are some folks saying we ought to stop these elections. I didn't think we believed in that in America."
Her defiance comes amid a growing chorus of demands from Obama supporters for her to
step down.
Senator Chris Dodd, a leading Obama backer, says the result of the primaries is now "a foregone conclusion", and he called on Mrs Clinton to pull out to preserve party unity.
More and more Democratic leaders are joining the Obama bandwagon, notably the entire seven-strong group of North Carolina congressional members.
The governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson said Mr Obama's lead was all but insurmountable, and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry added that the contest would be reaching "a point of judgment" very soon.
The problem for Mrs Clinton is in the maths.
Mr Obama has a lead of about 160 delegates, which Clinton will struggle to match in the races ahead. Even her expected big win in the next primary, on 22 April in Pennsylvania, will not reduce Mr Obama's lead to below 130.
With the remaining nine contests expected to be split evenly between the candidates, Mr Obama is likely to wrap up the contest with a 100-plus lead.
Mrs Clinton hopes to overturn this lead with a majority of votes from among the 795 party-appointed superdelegates.
But few expect these "supers" to go against Mr Obama if he wins the popular vote. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has warned that the party faces rupture if they were to do so.
Adding to the pressure for an early result, the party chairman, Howard Dean, has called for these "supers" to make their decision sooner rather than later, hoping to avoid an ugly fight at the August convention.
Mr Obama himself is steering clear of the controversy, saying: "Senator Clinton can run as long as she wants; her name is on the ballot."
But privately his campaign staff are urging senior Democrats to push the superdelegates into an early decision, choking off Mrs Clinton's candidature and bringing a toxic primary race to an early end.
Most commentators say Mrs Clinton's last real chance of catching Mr Obama's lead vanished when the party decided not to hold re-runs of the disqualified Florida and Michigan primaries, both of which might have given her big majorities.
Her best hope is probably that her rival commits some blunder, or is hit by a damaging revelation that undermines his credibility.
Just such a revelation – his closeness with the radical pastor Jeremiah Wright – saw his poll numbers fall below those of Mrs Clinton last month. But then Mrs Clinton committed a blunder of her own, claiming to have dodged sniper fire in Bosnia, despite television footage to the contrary.
This footage, being shown over and over again on US networks and websites, has undermined her credibility and polls show Mr Obama now ahead by 52 points to 42.
Adding to Mrs Clinton's woes are reports on the state of her campaign finances. Figures released by the election authorities show her with far less cash in her war chest than Mr Obama. And politico.com, an online newspaper reports that the Clinton campaign is behind in paying organisers to stage events.
Meanwhile, John McCain, his own nomination as Republican candidate already secure, is taking full advantage of the Democrats' troubles.
Having wrapped up a successful tour of Europe and the Middle East, Mr McCain has started a meet-the-voters tour emphasising his own party's unity.
