Clinton vows to keep her uphill bid alive

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Clinton hoped her crushing defeat of Obama on Tuesday would slow his march to the Democratic nomination and bolster her case that she is the Democrat with the best chance to beat Republican John McCain in November's election.

Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, retains a nearly unassailable advantage in delegates who will select the nominee at the party convention in August. West Virginia had only 28 delegates at stake.

"This race isn't over yet. Neither of us has the total delegates it takes to win," the New York senator and former first lady told a victory celebration in Charleston, West Virginia.

"I am more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has had a chance to make their voices heard," she said, looking ahead to the final five nominating contests that conclude on June 3.

With nearly three-quarters of the votes counted in West Virginia, Clinton led Obama by nearly 40 points.

Obama made only one brief campaign stop in West Virginia before the contest and stayed far away, when he visited the general election battleground of Missouri and looked ahead to a November match-up with McCain.

"A vote for John McCain is a vote for George Bush's third term," Obama said in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. "We cannot afford any more of the Bush-McCain program."

Obama did not appear in public after the voting ended in West Virginia, but a campaign spokeswoman said he left Clinton a congratulatory message on her mobile phone. He is scheduled to make stops in the general-election battleground states of Michigan on Wednesday and in Florida next week.

RACE A FACTOR

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