Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Presidential candidate Barack Obama said he can win votes in the November general election that Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent, can't get.

``We can attract independents and Republicans in a way that Senator Clinton cannot,'' Obama, 46, of Illinois, said on ``Face the Nation'' on CBS. Republicans view Clinton as a ``polarizing figure,'' he said.

Clinton, who is running slightly ahead of Obama in recent polls, countered that she is battle-tested and most able to defeat Senator John McCain of Arizona, the leading Republican candidate, in November.

Obama and Clinton, both Democratic senators, appeared on Sunday television talk shows to rally support before 22 states hold nominating contests Feb. 5. Voters in states including New York, Massachusetts and California will choose about half the delegates needed for the Democratic nomination in the contests, known as Super Tuesday.

Clinton, 60, of New York, said on ABC's ``This Week'' that she is better able to withstand Republican attacks and attract voters who ``know how serious the issues are that we face.''

``In his prior election in Illinois, Senator Obama didn't face anyone who ran attack ads against him,'' she said, referring to Obama's Senate race. ``He ran against a very weak opponent, without resources or credibility.''

`Ups and Downs'

McCain, whose lead over former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has widened in recently released national polls, declined to predict the Republican winner on Super Tuesday, saying on the ``Fox News Sunday'' program that ``there've been too many ups and downs'' in the race.

``Primaries are very tough, and there's a lot of strong feelings,'' said McCain, 71.

McCain said that ``the key is to unite the party'' after a candidate is chosen, and he defended himself against attacks from Republican conservatives.

``I'm proud of the conservative support I have,'' McCain said on CBS. ``If you examine my record, it's more conservative than Governor Romney's is.''

Romney, 60, appearing on ``This Week,'' said the fight for the Republican nomination has become a battle for the ``heart and soul of the Republican Party.''

`Indistinguishable'

``If we want a party that is indistinguishable from Hillary Clinton on an issue like illegal immigration, then we're going to have John McCain as a nominee,'' Romney said.

Romney said his victory yesterday in Maine's presidential caucuses ``had to shock the McCain folks'' because the Arizona senator was supported by Maine's two Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. The Maine caucuses were non-binding, in effect a preference poll that didn't award any delegates.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, rejected Romney's contention that the party's nomination battle is a two-man race between McCain and Romney.

``It is ludicrous'' for Romney ``to suggest that with only 8 percent of the delegates counted and us being very close to the same delegate count, that somehow that makes me irrelevant,'' Huckabee, 52, said on CNN's ``Late Edition.''

Clinton adviser Doug Hattaway said the campaign is focusing its advertising for the Feb. 5 vote on states where they believe she is strongest, including California, New York and Arkansas, and battleground states such as Tennessee, Missouri and Massachusetts.

`The Right Balance'

``We're trying to strike the right balance'' between strong states and battleground states, Hattaway said. ``You can't deploy resources in all 22 states so you have to make choices.''

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released today showed 47 percent of likely Democratic voters said they back Clinton, while 43 percent said the same for Obama. The difference is within the survey's margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

A separate poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and Press showed that 46 percent of Democrats nationwide favor Clinton compared with Obama's 38 percent.

Among Republicans, McCain is supported in the Post-ABC poll by 48 percent of likely Republican voters, compared with 24 percent for Romney, 16 percent for Huckabee and 7 percent for Texas Representative Ron Paul.

The Pew survey, released today, showed McCain leading nationwide among Republicans with 42 percent, a 13-point increase from a similar mid-January poll. Romney followed with 22 percent and Huckabee with 20 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Blum in Washington at jblum4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 3, 2008 14:20 EST