Hillary Rodham Clinton campaigned for victory Sunday in Puerto Rico's presidential primary, albeit a hollow one as Barack Obama's advisers confidently predicted he would have the Democratic presidential nomination in hand as early as this week.
The vote in the island territory follows a Saturday decision by a Democratic National Committee panel to give each Michigan and Florida delegate a half vote at the party's national convention. The compromise did no harm to Obama's near lock on the nomination, but infuriated Clinton supporters.
The deal by the party's Rules Committee left Obama 64 delegates short of the 2,118 now needed for the nomination. Sunday's election here and the final primaries Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota _ with a total of 86 delegates at stake _ will narrow the gap. Obama could attract enough superdelegates _ top party officials and lawmakers free to vote for any candidate _ to secure the nomination this week.
"If not Tuesday, I think it will be fairly soon," Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said on national television Sunday.
Gibbs also did not rule out the possibility that Obama will seat the Michigan and Florida delegations at full strength if he is the nominee.
"I think any nominee may make some decisions at some point regarding those delegations," he said on ABC television's "This Week."
Obama's confidence was reflected in his decision to campaign on Monday in Michigan, a key battleground state. He planned to mark the end of the primary season at a Tuesday night rally in the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the same arena where John McCain will officially become the Republican nominee at the party's convention beginning Sept. 1.
Clinton's fading hopes were dealt a crushing blow by the party Rules and Bylaws Committee's decision resolving the dispute over seating the Michigan and Florida delegations, which threatened to undercut party unity going into the November general election against McCain.
The New York senator had pressed hard to have Michigan and Florida's 368 delegates fully counted after the states were stripped of their convention votes for violating party rules by holding their primaries too early. Clinton won both primaries after all the candidates agreed not to campaign in either state. Nearly 2.3 million Democratic primary votes were cast in the two states.
Clinton's campaign objected to the compromise on Michigan's delegates because it gave the former first lady four fewer delegates than aides had maintained she was entitled to, prompting new threats to take the fight to the August convention. She trails Obama by more than 170 delegates in the overall count.
"She will be consulting with people and she will be making the decision later on," said Clinton adviser Harold Ickes, a member of the committee that voted Saturday. He hinted that the 2,118 delegates needed for the nomination may grow.
"But in our view, the final number for the nomination will not be fixed until Michigan is ultimately resolved, but that will depend on what Mrs. Clinton decides to do," Ickes said on CNN's "Late Edition."
The sticking point in the debate over the two states was Michigan, where Obama's name was not on the primary ballot. Clinton prevailed over "uncommitted," but Obama's allies claimed the large majority of those votes were cast by his supporters.
Clinton's camp insisted the Illinois senator should not get any pledged delegates in Michigan since he chose not to put his name on the ballot. Obama's team insisted the only fair solution was to split the pledged delegates in half between the two campaigns, with 64 each.
The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would split the difference, allowing Clinton to take 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention in Denver this August, according to the deal.
As voting got under way Sunday in Puerto Rico, some polling places in the capital of San Juan were busy soon after they opened while others were idle. More than 20 schools serving as polling sites opened late because janitors were protesting late-arriving paychecks, the Department of Education said.
In a fierce and prolonged Democratic presidential battle, Puerto Rico stood as the former first lady's best chance for one last primary victory, but offered her no chance of overcoming Obama's delegate lead.
She, former President Bill Clinton and their daughter Chelsea have spent a combined 15 days in the commonwealth hoping to keep her relevant in the contest. On Sunday, Clintono got an early start, chatting up customers, posing for photos and signing posters during a visit to Kasalta Bakery in San Juan.
Puerto Rico will send more delegates to the party's national convention than some smaller U.S. states, but does not vote in the general presidential election.
Over the past few weeks, Obama has largely ignored Clinton to focus on McCain and the November elections. While hammering the Arizona senator as offering nothing more than an extension of President George W. Bush's unpopular policies, he struggled to move past controversies stirred by some supporters.
The first-term Illinois senator resigned from his church in Chicago in the aftermath of inflammatory remarks by his longtime pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and more recent fiery remarks at the Trinity United Church of Christ by another minister.
Comments by Wright blaming U.S. policies for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks had inflamed racial tensions and posed an unwanted problem for Obama as he was on the verge of making history as the first black Democratic presidential nominee.
"This is not a decision I come to lightly ... and it is one I make with some sadness," Obama said Saturday at a news conference in South Dakota after campaign officials released a letter of resignation sent to the church the day before.
Obama said weeks ago that he disagreed with Wright but initially portrayed him as a family member he could not disown. The preacher had officiated at Obama's wedding and been his spiritual mentor for some 20 years. But as more comments emerged, Obama denounced the remarks as "divisive and destructive" and worked to distance himself from the preacher.
More recently, racially charged remarks from the same pulpit by another pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, kept the controversy alive and proved the latest thorn in the side of Obama.
Obama made it clear he was not happy with the comments _ in which Pfleger pretended he was Clinton crying over "a black man stealing my show."
Pfleger issued an apology, saying he was sorry if his comments offended Clinton or anyone else, but the controversy persisted.
Saturday's party meeting did strengthen one of Clinton's key arguments for staying in the race amid mounting pressure to get out. In seating the Michigan and Florida delegates, party leaders tacitly acknowledged her popular vote dominance in those states.
Clinton's campaign now says she has won the most votes since the primaries and caucuses began in January, a debatable claim for a number of reasons, including the fact that she ran virtually unopposed in Michigan and vote totals from several caucus states cannot be calculated.
Her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, was quick to point that out during his appearance on ABC.
"Well clearly, it ultimately comes down to the delegates. But I think it's very important to note that Hillary Clinton will have received more votes than anyone ever running for president on either side in primary battle," said McAuliffe, who was with Clinton in Puerto Rico.
While polls show her ahead, island officials don't expect an exceptionally large turnout. That means Clinton might not get the huge influx of popular votes she is counting on.
McAuliffe said Clinton would not consider leaving the race until someone gets 2,118 delegates.
"We think we are going to get that number. But we're going to make our argument right up until someone has that number," he said.
Heading into Sunday's primary, Obama had 2,054 delegates overall, in the latest AP tally. Clinton had 1,877.5.
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Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn and Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.
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