Clinton, Obama Run Up The Miles to Gain an Edge

In his appearances, Obama expanded on his customary stump speech, adding a new section arguing that he would make a stronger opponent against McCain in the general election because he had opposed the war in Iraq from the start, unlike Clinton, who voted to authorize the use of force against Iraq. Obama also said he would more forcefully argue for left-leaning goals such as raising the cap on income taxed for Social Security.

"If John McCain is the nominee, then the Democratic Party has to ask itself, do you want a candidate who has similar policies to John McCain on the war in Iraq, or someone who can offer a stark contrast?" Obama said.

"When I'm the nominee, McCain won't be able to say, 'You were for this war in Iraq,' because I wasn't. . . . I can offer a clear and clean break from the failed policies of George W. Bush," Obama said. "We need clarity in this campaign, and that's what I offer."

Obama is hoping to win outright in states where he was not expected to be competitive just a few weeks ago, although victories in smaller states would pack less of a wallop than wins in places such as California or New Jersey.

Even Alaska is on Obama's radar screen. "The Obama campaign in Alaska is a juggernaut compared to Clinton's effort," the Anchorage Daily News reported on Sunday. Senior Obama aide Pete Rouse, who used to work in Alaska politics, has helped to sign up more than 50 local leaders to back Obama, including former Gov. Tony Knowles.

Advisers to both Obama and Clinton now say the big mystery is California, where Clinton held a substantial lead until recently. The Field survey showed that nearly a fifth of California voters are still undecided, raising the possibility that the state could shift decisively to one candidate on Tuesday.

While his wife campaigned to the east, former president Bill Clinton visited four churches in mostly black sections of Los Angeles, striking a markedly more conciliatory theme than he did in the days leading up to the South Carolina primary. The former president never mentioned Obama by name.

The campaigns expect Tuesday to be scored three ways: by delegate count, by who takes California, and by who wins the most states.

If the overall outcome is a muddle, as both campaigns increasingly expect, Obama aides see a playing field heavily skewed in their favor in the next round of contests. Three states hold contests on Saturday: Louisiana, which has a large African American population, and Washington and Nebraska, which are both caucus states. Obama appears to hold the advantage in all of them, aides said, a point that Clinton advisers did not dispute.

Obama also expects to win the Maine caucuses on Sunday, and his campaign anticipates that Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia will all break for him on Feb. 12. Clinton strategists plan on having her campaign in all of those contests but are banking on big victories on March 4 in Ohio and Texas.

"She's going to have to sustain losses on four different days in February, over two weeks," said senior Obama adviser Steve Hildebrand. "That's not easy, whatever happens on Feb. 5."

A Clinton adviser conceded: "We could be looking at what is a tough month for us."

It is in the next phase also that Obama's strong financial position will pay off, Hildebrand said. The Obama campaign currently employs 500 paid staffers with 90 offices in the 30 states. It is advertising in all three Feb. 9 states. And it can afford to wage an all-out battle for Wisconsin on Feb. 19, where both campaigns are expected to deploy some of their most senior ground operatives.

Kornblut reported from Washington. Staff writers Karl Vick in Los Angeles, Shailagh Murray in Washington, and Dan Balz contributed to this report.