McCain looks to November's U.S. presidential vote

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton carried their fight for the Democratic nomination to the next battleground of Wisconsin on Sunday while John McCain, with little Republican opposition, looked forward to the November presidential election.

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain campaigns during a town hall meeting in Oshkosh, Wisconsin February 15, 2008. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton carried their fight for the Democratic nomination to Wisconsin on Sunday while McCain looked forward to the November presidential election. (REUTERS/Allen Fredrickson)

With eight straight wins under his belt, Obama was hoping to make it two more on Tuesday in Wisconsin and Hawaii, where he was born. Recent polls have him ahead in Wisconsin, but not by much.

"This is something really different that's happening from anything I've seen in politics, and I think that it is going to be a close race," Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, an Obama supporter, said on "Fox News Sunday." "It's very likely Barack Obama will win."

Clinton, the New York senator who has seen her big lead in the national polls disappear, was not giving up. She scheduled a series of events throughout Wisconsin and had her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and daughter Chelsea out campaigning for her.

McCain, the Arizona senator and prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict, has all but clinched the Republican nomination even though his chief rival, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, is still in the race.

In an interview aired on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, McCain looked ahead to the fall campaign and said he would paint the Democrats as liberal while stressing his conservative credentials.

"I can out-campaign them, and I can out-debate them, and I can out-perform them in what I think my vision for America is more in keeping with the majority of Americans," McCain said.

But McCain has had problems getting the conservative wing of his own party behind him. He said he was making progress toward that end.

FORMER PRESIDENT TO BACK MCCAIN

"We've got to reunite the party, and we've got to re-energize the party," he said. "And I'm prepared to do that. We've got plenty of time. But I won't waste a day."

On Monday, McCain will pick up a major endorsement from former President George H.W. Bush, the father of President George W. Bush. The president has not endorsed anyone but has made it is clear he is ready to back McCain once he clinches the nomination.

After Tuesday's voting, Democrats look forward to March 4, when the big states of Texas and Ohio hold primaries.

Victories in those states have become vital for Clinton as she tries to make up a gap with Obama, the Illinois senator who would be the first black president, in the race for pledged delegates awarded by the state-by-state contests to pick a Democratic nominee.

The ultimate winner could be determined by support from 796 "superdelegates" -- party insiders and elected officials who are free to back any candidate.

Clinton supporters think the superdelegates should vote for who they think would make the best candidate, while Obama backers say they should go for the candidate who got the most votes in the nominating contests. Right now, that is Obama.

"They should pay attention to what's going on and make a judgment as to who would be the strongest candidate, based on the results of the primaries," David Axelrod, chief campaign strategist for Obama, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

"The superdelegates are supposed to vote their conscience," countered Howard Wolfson, the counterpart for Clinton. "They're supposed to vote who they think will be the best person for the nation and for the party. That's why they were created. And that's what they're going to do."