May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton said she will remain in the Democratic presidential race ``until there is a nominee,'' and argued she would be the strongest candidate to face Republican John McCain in November.

A day after losing to Barack Obama by 14 percentage points in North Carolina's primary and winning Indiana by less than 2 points, Clinton said she is drawing support from women, working- class voters and other constituencies the Democratic Party needs to win the general election.

``I feel good about how I did with Indiana voters and swing voters in both North Carolina and Indiana,'' Clinton said in West Virginia, which holds its primary May 13. ``It's a new day. It's a new state and a new election.''

Clinton is more than 300 delegates shy of the 2,025 needed to claim the nomination, and the remaining six contests have a total of 217 pledged delegates at stake. Obama's campaign says he is 170 delegates from claiming the nomination. Both campaigns are courting the remaining undeclared party superdelegates, Democratic officials and officeholders whose votes aren't bound by the results of caucuses and primaries.

Obama's campaign today said he won over four more superdelegates: North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek, North Carolina Democratic National Committee member Jeanette Council, California DNC member Inola Henry and Virginia DNC member Jennifer McClellan, who previously had backed Clinton. Clinton added North Carolina Representative Heath Shuler, according to her campaign.

`Still Early'

Clinton, 60, a New York senator, brushed off a call from former senator and onetime Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern to drop out of the race. McGovern last year endorsed Clinton, who worked on his unsuccessful 1972 presidential campaign. She declined to say whether she intended to carry the fight to the party's national convention in August.

``It's still early,'' Clinton said at an event in Shepherdstown. She said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, didn't wrap up his 1992 nomination until June.

The last primaries are June 3 in Montana and South Dakota.

McGovern said in an interview that Democrats must unify behind a candidate.

``There comes a time when you have to call off the rivalry between Democrats and settle on a plan for the general election,'' McGovern said. ``I think we are just about there.''

He said he had a ``thoughtful discussion'' with Bill Clinton this morning before making his announcement.

Staying In

``He indicated she might be staying in for some time yet,'' at least through June 3, McGovern said.

Party strategists say there is little chance of Clinton's winning unless Obama makes a major gaffe. The former first lady's goal was to capitalize on her victory in the April 22 Pennsylvania primary and come up with a big win in Indiana while keeping North Carolina close. She failed in both.

``Clinton had a lot of momentum behind her in the last few weeks, and North Carolina was a reality check that it's still his race to lose,'' said Jennifer Palmieri, who served as spokeswoman for former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and was deputy press secretary in Bill Clinton's White House.

One of the most pressing issues for Clinton will be money. Obama, 46, an Illinois senator, has raised record amounts, forcing Clinton to dig into her personal bank account to keep her campaign afloat. Today, aides said she loaned her campaign $6.4 million in the last month, bringing her personal investment this year to $11.4 million.

Loan a Commitment

``It's a sign of my commitment to this campaign,'' Clinton told reporters in West Virginia.

Clinton said she isn't worried about losing the support of blacks who have given about 90 percent of their votes to Obama. They are ``a very important base'' for the party and probably would still vote for the Democratic candidate in November over McCain, a senator from Arizona and the presumptive Republican nominee, Clinton said.

``What we have not been able to count on in the last elections are the voters I'm getting,'' Clinton said.

Exit polls conducted for television networks and the Associated Press showed Clinton winning 58 percent of white men in Indiana, 71 percent of senior citizens and 51 percent of lower-income workers. She also got 56 percent of female voters.

``Working people are part of the base we lost,'' Clinton said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lorraine Woellert in Shepherdstown, West Virginian, at lwoellert@bloomberg.net; Kristin Jensen in Washington at kjensen@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 7, 2008 19:23 EDT