Clinton Adviser: Quitting 'Highly Unlikely'

RAPID CITY, S.D. — On what shaped up as her final day campaigning, Senator Clinton made a last-minute appeal to South Dakota voters amid signs that her marathon race against Senator Obama would end soon.

"I'm just very grateful we kept this campaign going until South Dakota would have the last word," Mrs. Clinton said at a restaurant visit here. "What South Dakota decides tomorrow will have a big influence in what people think going forward."

Mrs. Clinton planned an evening rally at Sioux Falls with President Clinton, their daughter, Chelsea, before flying east. South Dakota and Montana hold the final two primaries tomorrow, with 31 delegates at stake.

Mrs. Clinton's advisers privately predicted she would lose both contests, and she plans to hold her primary night rally tomorrow at New York City, a rare departure from the campaign trail. She also plans to meet with advisers at her home at Chappaqua, N.Y., tomorrow.

Mrs. Clinton has no other scheduled public events tomorrow.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, an adviser said it was highly unlikely she would announce an end to her campaign tomorrow night, adding that she would consider all options until Mr. Obama secured the 2,118 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

There were other signs today that Mrs. Clinton was moving to wrap up her historic race for the presidency. Staffers who have worked for her on the ground in the final primaries have been invited to attend Mrs. Clinton's speech at New York tomorrow, then go home and wait for further instructions.

But an adviser, Harold Ickes, said the staffers weren't being fired or bid farewell.

"There are no more primaries so there is nowhere to send them," Mr. Ickes said, insisting the campaign was now focused on the remaining superdelegates and not on individual states.

Even with her chances of wresting the nomination from Mr. Obama all but extinguished, Mrs. Clinton's supporters and advisers were calling uncommitted superdelegates to persuade them to back her candidacy. Indeed, two new superdelegates — one from Louisiana and one from New York — announced today they would support Mrs. Clinton.

A national fundraiser for Mrs. Clinton based at Philadelphia, Mark Aronchick, said he was calling "any superdelegate I know" including those who have publicly endorsed Mr. Obama in hopes of winning their support. While he said he expected Mrs. Clinton to stay in the race until Mr. Obama secured enough delegates for the nomination, he acknowledged that she faced long odds.

"We're not withdrawing. We're not conceding. We're going on to the end," Mr. Aronchick said, adding that whatever the outcome, Democrats would have to move quickly to restore party unity "from top to bottom."

Mrs. Clinton was scheduled to address the national conference of Aipac, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, at Washington Wednesday, as was Mr. Obama.