Clinton, Obama Supporters Say Fight May Hurt Party (Bloomberg News)

[bicentennial_baby]

Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Supporters of Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama say they are concerned that a protracted Democratic presidential nomination fight over delegates may hurt the party's chance to win in November.

Obama and Clinton are vying for votes before Wisconsin's Feb. 19 primary, and are gearing up for nominating contests in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. With the pledged delegate count close, they are also sparring over whether so-called superdelegates, members of Congress, governors and party leaders, are free to back either candidate.

``The goal is that at the end of the day we don't have such an internecine battle that we lose the general election,'' New York Senator Charles Schumer, a Clinton supporter, said today on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' program. ``We are on the edge of victory here.''

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, an Obama supporter, said that if the convention appears to have been decided ``in the backroom'' by the party elite, ``that isn't any good for the Democratic Party.''

More: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aR2jJIb2lCbc&refer=us