(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-02 20:46

RAPID CITY - As Barack Obama turns to concentrate on his general election challenge, his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton is mounting a last ditch campaign to stay relevant in what is left of the Democratic presidential contest.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) speaks at her Presidential Primary night rally in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 1, 2008. [Agencies]

The former first lady enters this week with an insurgent strategy not only to win over undecided superdelegates but to peel away Obama's support from those party leaders and elected officials who already have committed to back him for the nomination.

"One thing about superdelegates is that they can change their minds," she told reporters aboard her campaign plane Sunday night.

Obama displays no signs of worry, pivoting toward his new contest with Republican John McCain and responding to Clinton with a shrug. And some of Clinton's own backers are saying the time is near for her to fall in behind him.

Obama, campaigning in Mitchell, S.D., confidently predicted Clinton "is going to be a great asset when we go into November."

"Whatever differences Senator Clinton and I may have, those differences pale in comparison to the other side," he said.

South Dakota and Montana, which hold primaries on Tuesday, are the last Democratic nominating contests. Obama is favored in both states and he goes into them with 2,069 delegates, 47 away from the number now needed to secure the nomination. Clinton has 1,915.5 delegates.

Obama has made up most of the ground he lost Saturday when the national party's rules committee agreed to reinstate delegates from Michigan and Florida. The party had initially refused to seat the delegates as punishment for scheduling their contests in violation of party rules.

With 31 delegates at stake Tuesday, Obama could close the gap further and cue undecided superdelegates to come to his side. One of them, Nancy DiNardo, chairwoman of the Connecticut Democratic Party and the state's last uncommitted delegate, said Monday she is backing Obama. She had held back her endorsement for months, saying she wanted to wait until the primaries were over.

"It's pretty close to the end now," she told The Associated Press, though she added: "I would not count Senator Clinton out. She has shown that she's a strong fighter and a great candidate."

But Clinton argues she now leads in the popular vote - a debatable point given that she relies on Michigan and Florida outcomes. None of the candidates campaigned in either state and Obama received no votes in Michigan because he removed his name from the ballot. Clinton also continues to present herself as better able to confront McCain in the fall.

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