WASHINGTON — Dogged by defections and signs of financial trouble, Hillary Rodham Clinton faced a significant shift Wednesday even among supporters as talk turned from how she might win to how she can end her presidential campaign gracefully.
As more ballots trickled in from Indiana and North Carolina, Barack Obama padded his lead in the delegate count and national popular vote, increasing the already long odds against Clinton winning the Democratic Party nomination. Democrats worried that another month of rough campaigning could further hurt Obama's chances in the fall election.
Clinton showed no signs of quitting. She made a hastily scheduled visit to West Virginia, which votes Tuesday, and revealed she had lent her campaign $6.4 million on top of an earlier $5-million infusion.
"I am in this race," the New York senator told a gathering of nearly 1,500 women supporters at a Washington fundraiser Wednesday night. "I am staying in this race."
But a day after losing North Carolina in a landslide and barely squeaking past Obama in Indiana, Clinton was suddenly in the position her rival had occupied for the last few weeks: confronting doubts after her perceived underperformance.
Among those expressing concern was California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Clinton superdelegate.
"I have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I'm very loyal to her. That said, I'd like to talk with her and get her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is . . . ," Feinstein said. "I think the race is reaching the point now where there are negative dividends from it, in terms of strife within the party."
Others were blunter still. "I think effectively the race is over," said strategist Tad Devine, a 30-year veteran of Democratic politics who has remained neutral this primary season. "Obama will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. It's a question of how the end game comes about, its orchestration, whether or not he gains strength from it or is somehow diminished."
Obama had a day off at home in Chicago. Though he plans to campaign in West Virginia and in Oregon -- ahead of that state's May 20 primary -- aides said his focus would increasingly turn to the general election. Already, the Illinois senator is talking more about the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
"Everyone is eager to get on with it," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist.
