CHARLESTON, US - DEMOCRAT Hillary Clinton could drop her fading United States presidential bid if she still trails Mr Barack Obama in the nominating contests in early June, her campaign chairman said.

Chairman Terry McAuliffe said on Thursday Mrs Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, would unite behind front-runner Barack Obama if he won the right to face Republican John McCain in November's presidential election.

He said there was little reason to halt her longshot effort to catch Mr Obama until the voting in their nominating fight ends on June 3. Six states hold contests until then.

'She can win the states we need to win in the general election. Why should Hillary Clinton - until there is a nominee with the number of necessary delegates - why should she get out?' Mr Terry McAuliffe asked on NBC's Today show.

'It'll be over early June,' Mr McAuliffe said. 'We've all said we'll be together at the end. If Hillary doesn't win, Hillary, President Clinton, myself, we'll be over there helping Senator Obama.'

With just 217 delegates at stake in the final six contests, Mrs Clinton has no realistic chance of overtaking Mr Obama's lead in the number of pledged delegates who will help pick the nominee at the August Democratic convention or in popular votes won in state-by-state nominating contests that began in January.

Mr Obama's big win in North Carolina and narrow loss in Indiana this week effectively dashed her hopes and increased pressure on her to step aside so Mr Obama can prepare for the fight with Mr McCain.

Democratic Party chief Howard Dean also expects the race to be over next month, telling Fox News on Sunday: 'The unpledged delegates need to say who they're for by the end of June so we'll know who our nominee is by the end of June.'

Mrs Clinton plowed ahead on Thursday, travelling to the next battleground of West Virginia and saying she had been counted out before. The calls to drop out, which she heard before she won Pennsylvania last month, were 'deja vu all over again'.

'There are people who said we need to end this before we get to West Virginia. Well, I don't think so,' Mrs Clinton said at a rally in Charleston, West Virginia, which hosts the next contest on Tuesday.

An MSNBC count showed Mr Obama had 1,850 delegates to Mrs Clinton's 1,700 - leaving him about 175 short of the 2,025 needed to clinch the nomination.

Superdelegates
Neither candidate can win without help from superdelegates - nearly 800 party insiders and officials who are free to back any candidate. More than 250 remain uncommitted, and if the majority begin to move towards Mr Obama, an Illinois senator, they could quickly settle the race.

Mr Obama visited Capitol Hill to check in with some uncommitted superdelegates, and picked up the backing of one - Representative Brad Miller of North Carolina.

He was mobbed by lawmakers in the back of the House of Representatives chamber. Some asked for his autograph. On leaving, Mr Obama ran into a large group of tourists, mostly children, and posed for photos.

In an interview with CNN, Mr Obama criticised Mr McCain's recent comment that the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas backed Mr Obama.

'This is offensive and I think it's disappointing, because John McCain always says, well, I'm not going to run that kind of politics and then engages in that kind of smear,' Mr Obama said.

Mr Obama told CNN Mrs Clinton would be 'on anyone's short list' as a vice-presidential candidate but it was premature to discuss the possibility of a joint ticket because she was still running against him.

Calls for Mrs Clinton to end the race have come mostly from the media and television pundits. Aside from 1972 Democratic nominee George McGovern, who switched his allegiance to Mr Obama on Wednesday, few superdelegates or Mrs Clinton backers have questioned her continued presence in the race.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and Clinton supporter who had expressed doubts about whether her continued candidacy would hurt the party, said she spoke with her early on Thursday.

'I'm sticking with her,' she said. 'I agree that she should take this as long as she feels she has a chance to win it. She said she will do nothing to harm the party.' Mrs Clinton still hopes to find a way to seat delegates from Michigan and Florida, where she won contests in January that are not recognised by the national party because of a dispute over when they were held.

She sent a letter to Mr Obama on Thursday asking him join her in seeking a resolution. Mr Obama also has said he wants to find a fair way to seat delegates from the two states.

The party's rules committee will meet on May 31 to discuss the issue. Mr Obama was not on the ballot in Michigan and no candidates campaigned in either state because of the dispute. -- REUTERS