U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D-NY) stands with her husband, fomer president Bill Clinton, and their daughter Chelsea during her Kentucky presidential primary night rally in Louisville, Kentucky, May 20, 2008.
Clinton, too, was in Florida, pressing to narrow her gap with Obama by having delegates counted from its renegade January primary.
Democratic rule-makers are to meet May 31 to decide whether to count delegates from Florida and Michigan; the states were stripped of their delegates as punishment for holding early primaries in violation of party rules. Clinton won both states, but Obama had his name removed from Michigan's ballot and neither candidate campaigned in those states.
In an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press, Clinton said she is willing to take her fight to seat Florida's and Michigan's delegates to the convention if the two states want to go that far.
Asked whether she would support the states if they appeal an unfavorable rules committee decision to the convention floor, the former first lady replied:
"Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this."
"I will consult with Floridians and the voters in Michigan because it's really their voices that are being ignored and their votes that are being discounted, and I'll support whatever the elected officials and the voters in those two states want to do."
Taking her battle to the convention would fly in the face of an increasing number of party leaders who say the contest needs to be wrapped up shortly after the last primary on June 3 to prepare adequately for the fall election.
Asked if she now envisioned the race extending beyond June 3, Clinton replied: "It could, I hope it doesn't. I hope it's resolved to everyone's satisfaction by that date, because that's what people are expecting, but we'll have to see what happens."
But trailing Obama by almost 200 delegates, even seating both Florida and Michigan delegations in the way most favorable to Clinton would still leave her behind the Illinois senator.
