Campaigns Shift Focus After Super Tuesday

JIM LEHRER: And now politics, to what happened and what next after Super Tuesday. Judy Woodruff begins.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Despite primary and caucus votes yesterday in 22 states across the U.S., Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are pretty much in the same position they were when Super Tuesday began. But that's not how either was describing it today.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), Illinois: If I were writing this story, what I would say would be, "Senator Obama came in as a challenger, who, two weeks ago, I think nobody thought would come out of February 5th standing," right?

I mean, I think the Clinton camp's basic attitude was that the whole calendar was set up to deliver the knockout blow on February 5th. And not only did we play them to a draw; we won more delegates, and we won more states.

What that means, then, is that we are in a fierce competition and we've got a lot more -- many more rounds to fight.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Obama spoke to reporters this morning in Chicago, contending that, of the two candidates, he is the most electable in November.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA: I have no doubt that I can get the people who voted for Senator Clinton in a general election. It is not clear that Senator Clinton can get all the people that I'm getting in this process.

And so when we start looking at the overall map and where we're going to win, I don't think there's a lot of doubt that I can win California or win New York or win Massachusetts or win New Jersey.

Now, the question is: Can we make inroads in places like Missouri? Can we make inroads in places like Nevada? How do we do there? And those are areas where I think we can do well.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Hillary Clinton held a press conference late today at her campaign office in Arlington, Virginia, and countered Obama's claim.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), New York: I am on the path to win the nomination. That's what I intend to do; that's what this is about. And I think the results last night showed clearly that we're ahead. We intend to be competitive in states that are going to be challenging, as well as ones that look like they will be very favorable toward me.

Obviously, I'm going to be working very hard to get the votes of everyone, and I think the broad base of support that I demonstrated yesterday in states that Democrats have to win -- you know, some of the states that were up yesterday are states that will be very hard for a Democrat to win. And everybody knows that.

But the states that we have to win are states that I have been doing very well in. And I think that, as we actually draw the contrast with the Republicans, we'll be drawing votes from everyone.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Clinton also confirmed the news that she loaned her campaign $5 million in late January.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON: I did, I loaned the campaign $5 million from my money. That's where I got the money. I loaned it because I believe very strongly in this campaign.

We had a great month of fundraising in January, broke all records, but my opponent was able to 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.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Yesterday saw an almost even Democratic split. Each won about 7.3 million votes. Clinton scored wins in eight Super Tuesday states, some big ones -- New York, New Jersey, California -- along with Arizona, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Obama won more states, 13 in all, Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and Utah.

All told, Clinton narrowly outpaced Obama in delegates won and, according to the A.P., now holds a nearly 100-delegate lead with still a long way to go before either can claim the Democratic nomination.