"Senator Clinton is committed to her supporters and to the voters in the upcoming states to carry this through and secure the nomination,'' campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said on "Fox News Sunday.''

Clinton, 60, expects to win the West Virginia primary this week, and her previous victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio have persuaded many superdelegates to delay a decision on whether to support her or rival Barack Obama, Wolfson said.

Clinton's campaign suffered a setback yesterday when Obama, 46, won endorsements from five superdelegates, erasing Clinton's long-held lead in backing from party officials and lawmakers. Obama now leads Clinton in the popular vote and the number of pledged delegates and superdelegates who will decide the nominee at the party's convention in August.

David Axelrod, a spokesman for Obama's campaign, said superdelegates will continue announcing support for Obama, an Illinois senator, because "we're coming to the end of the process.''

"We're going to continue to unfurl these endorsements on a regular basis here,'' Axelrod said on Fox.

Michigan, Florida

Clinton, a New York senator, is trying to persuade party leaders to allow delegations from Florida and Michigan to participate in the national convention and help her secure the nomination.

The Democratic National Committee banned both delegations from the national convention after the two state parties held their primaries earlier than rules allowed. Clinton won the primaries in both states after the candidates agreed not to campaign in Michigan and Florida, and Obama's name wasn't on the ballot in Michigan.

Clinton's campaign is lobbying the DNC, which plans to debate the issue at a meeting on May 31, to allow delegations from the states to vote for the nomination at the convention.

Clinton won't consider the race over until "one candidate gets to 2,209, which is the number of delegates needed with Florida and Michigan,'' campaign spokesman Wolfson said today on Fox. "We believe Florida and Michigan ought to be counted.''

50 Percent

Clinton "certainly might'' accept having 50 percent of the delegates from Michigan and Florida seated if that's what the party's rules committee decides to do, Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said on NBC's "Meet the Press.''

McAuliffe said that he is confident the campaign will have a strong argument for Clinton to be the nominee after the last Democratic primaries are held June 3 in Montana and South Dakota.

"I believe we will be ahead in the popular vote, we will be within 100 on the delegates,'' counting the Michigan and Florida primary results, McAuliffe said.

Obama is weighing a suggestion from McCain for the two candidates to hold a series of joint town hall meetings where they would debate the issues, perhaps without a moderator.

"We're interested in the proposal and eager to sit down and talk about it,'' Axelrod said.

In a separate interview on ABC's "This Week,'' Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that McCain has a reputation for being quick to anger. "Everybody knows he has a real unusual temper,'' Reid said.