With both candidates claiming the lead, Democrats dug in Wednesday for a prolonged nominating fight that will test Hillary Rodham Clinton's establishment support against Barack Obama's growing financial edge.
As Missouri tipped into Obama's column, giving him 13 Super Tuesday states to eight for Clinton, campaign strategists spent the day crunching vote totals to determine their share of delegates to the party's national nominating convention.
Their tallies differed -- each side asserting they were ahead -- but both camps agreed the numbers were exceedingly close, making for the most competitive Democratic race in at least 40 years.
Clinton revealed she lent her campaign $5 million to keep pace with Obama's torrid fundraising. Separately, campaign insiders acknowledged that some staff members were working without pay, including campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.
Clinton and Obama ended last year on a near-even financial footing, but in January the Illinois senator raised $32 million compared with less than $14 million for Clinton. She said Tuesday's results, including big wins in California and the Northeast, "proved the wisdom" of her personal investment.
With seven more contests over the next six days, Clinton promised no respite, despite a voice raw from overuse.
"It's going to be a mad dash until Tuesday," the New York senator told reporters at her campaign headquarters outside Washington. "Not a lot of time to catch your breath. We are full speed ahead."
In Chicago, Obama also claimed victory, asserting he not only won more states Tuesday but will beat Clinton in the delegate count once the final results are known days or weeks from now.
"I think the Clinton camp's basic attitude was that the whole calendar was set up to deliver the knockout blow on Feb. 5," Obama told reporters before flying to Washington for a day off the campaign trail. "We've got many more rounds to fight."
He waved off Clinton's proposal for a series of debates between now and March 4, when Texas and Ohio hold primaries. "I don't think anybody is clamoring for more debates," Obama said, noting there have been 18 so far. His priority, he said, was "to spend time with voters."
The full Super Tuesday fallout was unclear.
Millions of ballots are still to be counted from the day's 22 contests, including as many as 2 million in California. New Mexico remained too close to call, with Clinton ahead by just over 200 votes.
