Democrat's battle far from over

Updated 23.16 Wed Feb 06 2008

Keywords: John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton

A bruising presidential battle for Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton shows no sign of easing.

The former First Lady, who revealed she has pumped $5 million (£2.5m) of her own money into her campaign, battled to a draw with Mr Obama on Super Tuesday.

The former First Lady, who revealed she has pumped $5 million (£2.5m) of her own money into her campaign, battled to a draw with Mr Obama on Super Tuesday

Mr Obama won 13 states and Mrs Clinton eight, including the big prizes of California and New York.

Their delegate race is also almost even, propelling the fight toward the next round of seven Democratic contests in the next six days.

Meanwhile, Republican John McCain's coast-to-coast Super Tuesday wins in key states has put him on the verge of clinching his party's nomination.

Mr McCain, whose campaign was all but dead last summer, won nine states including California and New York.

His rivals Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee have vowed to fight on - but could face questions about their viability.

Mr McCain has dropped plans for a possible trip to Germany to attend an international security conference so he could focus on his campaign.

Mrs Clinton has revealed she loaned her campaign $5 million (£2.5m) in an effort to keep up with Mr Obama - who raised about $32 million (£16m) in January to her less than $14 million (£7m).

She told reporters: "I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign.

"We had a great month fund-raising in January, broke all records, but my opponent was able raise more money and we intended to be competitive and we were and I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment."

Both candidates are looking toward a protracted Democratic fight.

"We've got many more rounds to fight and you know I think that Senator Clinton remains the favorite because of the enormous familiarity people have with her and the institutional support she has," Mr Obama said.

"But you know we're turning out to be a scrappy little team," he said. "I think we are less of an underdog than we were two weeks ago."

The Democrats will square off in Louisiana, Nebraska and Washington on Saturday, Maine on Sunday, and Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia on Tuesday.