HILLARY Clinton yesterday launched what is likely to be the final gambit of her primary campaign, calling for the disqualified states of Florida and Michigan to be counted in the primary process.
Following her big victory in West Virginia this week she wants the Democratic Party's rules and bylaws committee, which meets at the end of the month, to reinstate the banned states.
Both states had their primary elections, won by Mrs Clinton, r
uled invalid by the Democratic Party after the dates of the elections were changed.
Clinton staff hope that once the ban is lifted, cutting the lead of Barack Obama, Mrs Clinton can persuade party-appointed superdelegates to give the nomination to her.
"I have absolutely no doubt that the Democratic National Committee is going to seat Florida and Michigan," said Mrs Clinton's communications director Howard Wolfson. "I think she'll become the nominee."
But as the primary campaign begins to wind down, few outside Mrs Clinton's inner circle appear to believe she can still pull it off.
As significant as Mrs Clinton's West Virginia victory was, the news that Mr Obama has pulled ahead for the first time in the race to win endorsements for super delegates: 283 to 269. Including delegates won in West Virginia and new superdelegates, Mr Obama has a total of 1,886 delegates to Mrs Clinton's 1,718.
Even staunch Clinton supporters have begun switching sides. One top backer, James Carville, who made headlines last month by declaring the New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson, a "Judas" for supporting Mr Obama, this week told the New York Times he was making the change too, saying: "Everybody is going to be with Obama."
And last night, NARAL Pro-Choice America, a leading abortion rights advocacy organisation that has supported Mrs Clinton throughout her political career, said that it was backing Mr Obama.
Party insiders say that with Mr Obama leading in elected delegates, superdelegates, the popular vote and the number of states won, the rules committee is unlikely to change the game in favour of Mrs Clinton.
"Thirty-eight members of that committee, except for those from Florida and Michigan, voted for the rules the first time; they are not going to change things now," said Phil Noble, a Democratic Party polling expert.
The Obama campaign is taking no chances, and is launching a gambit of its own – trying to wrap up the contest before the committee even meets by getting the crucial 2,026 delegates.
Such a win would make it more difficult, politically, for the rules committee to make changes if Mr Obama's supporters are already holding victory parties.
Adding to Mrs Clinton's woes are reports that her campaign, despite a personal finance injection of £5.5 million, is now £10 million in debt.
With five more contests to go and Mrs Clinton insisting "the race isn't over yet", Terry McAuliffe, her chief finance officer, said the senator is preparing to dip into her own funds again to keep the campaign alive.
But even Mrs Clinton may be considering her options, with her speeches showing her no longer criticising her rival, but offering faint praise. "I want to commend Senator Obama and his supporters," she told her victory rally in West Virginia.
Mr Obama, meanwhile, is presenting himself as looking beyond the nomination contest.
His campaign stops this week are in states vital not to the primary race, but to the battle with Republican John McCain.
"This is a state where we will compete to win when I am the Democratic nominee," he said, dropping the "if" for a categorical "when" as he spoke to garment workers in Missouri.
Other signs of a change in style are his decision to wear a stars-and-stripes lapel pin. Previously, he had insisted the pin, also worn by George Bush, the president, was a gimmick. But as he tries to reach out to the all- important swing voters and moderate Republicans, it seems to be a gimmick he is now prepared to deploy.
Tuesday provided fresh signs that the Republicans are vulnerable. Travis Childers, a Democrat, was elected to fill a vacant Congress seat that had been in Republican hands for 14 years in the conservative, southern state of Mississippi.
It was the third seat in the House of Representatives the Democrats have taken from Republicans this year, and it boosts their hopes of expanding their majorities in both chambers of Congress in November, as well as winning the presidency.
The full article contains 762 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
