PHILADELPHIA (NNPA)—Sen. Hillary Clinton has laid out the case for continuing her campaign, saying that she has broader appeal than her opponent Sen. Barack Obama—particularly among white voters.

HILLARY CLINTON

“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,” Clinton told USA Today, citing an Associated Press article “that found…Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

Clinton added, “There’s a pattern emerging here.”

She argued her comments were not racially divisive because: “These are the people you have to win if you’re a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election. Everybody knows that.”

In Indiana, six in 10 white voters backed Clinton.

Despite that margin, she carried the state by only a two-point margin. Obama won an overwhelming victory in North Carolina, carrying the state 56 to 41 percent.

The weak showing prompted immediate talk that Clinton might withdraw from the race—talk she quickly quieted.

Clinton’s weakness was also highlighted by the fact that she had to loan her campaign $6.4 million of her own money to continue the campaign.

Obama’s North Carolina win combined with those allocated to him in Indiana gave him approximately 97 delegates. Clinton won approximately 86.

Those numbers gave Obama 1,846 delegates. Clinton ended up with 1,696. To clinch the party’s nomination, one of the candidates needs 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Neither candidate can win with the number of delegates that remain outstanding.

So, with the race continuing the role of superdelegates becomes ever more important.

West Virginia voters cast ballots yesterday. Oregon voters are to cast their ballots May 20. There are four other primaries between then and June 3.

The head of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean, has said one of the candidates should withdraw after the primary season ends June 3 so the party can unite behind a candidate going into the convention in August.