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Hillary Clinton, shown here campaigning Monday at a community college in Blue Bell, Pa., tells FOX News the race is a "long way from being over." (AP Photo)

The Democratic race is a “long way from being over,” Hillary Clinton told FOX News on Wednesday, and she has no qualms about taking the primary fight all the way to the convention floor.

In a sit-down interview with FOX News’ Greta Van Susteren, which aired Wednesday night, Clinton said not to write her candidacy’s obituary yet, even though she’s trailing Barack Obama by 157 pledged delegates with opportunities dwindling to make up that gap.

“Sixty-two percent said let it go on,” Clinton said, referring to a new Rasmussen survey that found that portion of Democrats aren’t ready for either candidate to leave the race. “That is what people are telling me. That is what we have to do. Let the voters have a chance to be heard. Nobody should be writing obituaries on this race, because it is a long way from being over.”

The Democratic race has taken unexpected twists and turns in the last two weeks, from the controversy over Obama’s long-time pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. to criticism of Clinton’s claims that she landed in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire.

But neither candidate is expected to lock down the pledged delegates needed to clinch the nomination before the August convention. And although Democratic leaders are scrambling to avoid a prolonged fight that could give GOP nominee-in-waiting John McCain a decided advantage, Clinton said Wednesday there are too many ifs for the matter to be settled yet.

“Well this is a really close election. Despite what some might say, it is a very close election in the popular vote and in the delegates,” she said. “We have 10 contests ahead of us, plus, don’t forget, Florida and Michigan. You know, I keep beating this drum … millions of people are going to be voting in the next three months, and I hope that will include Florida and Michigan.”

Clinton’s campaign has argued for seating the Michigan and Florida delegations, which were stripped after those states held early primaries in violation of party rules. Recent efforts to hold re-votes in those states have fallen through.

Clinton won both of those states’ primaries in January, though none of the candidates campaigned. Obama was not even on the ballot in Michigan.

Clinton said, barring a resolution on Florida and Michigan, the fight goes to convention.

“You know, you can always go to the convention. That’s what credential fights are for,” she said. “Let’s have the Democratic party go on record against seating the Michigan and Florida delegations three months before the general election? I don’t think that will happen. I think they will be seated. So that’s where we’re headed if we don’t get this worked out.”

Clinton also has weighed in this week on the controversy over Wright, whose anti-U.S. sermons have raised questions about Obama’s judgment in choosing his associates. Clinton said she would have left Wright’s church.

“I was asked point blank yesterday what I would have done had I been in a position where someone was making those kinds of comments, and I said I would have left,” she told FOX News on Wednesday. “I’ve spoken out against all kinds of words that I thought were inappropriate. … You know, you don’t get to pick your family, but you do get to pick the church or synagogue you attend.”

Obama’s campaign on Tuesday blasted Clinton for trying wedge her way out of the fallout over her Bosnia claims by breaking her silence on Wright. Obama said Wednesday that he already has condemned Wright’s most offensive statements, and “we can’t afford to be distracted” from the real issues in the election.

Likewise, when Clinton was asked Wednesday about the Bosnia flap, she said that’s not what voters care about.

“I’m a human being. I made a mistake and owned up to it,” she said. “But that’s not what people talk to me about. When I’m out campaigning … people want to talk about the economy and health care, and they want to know what are you going to do to get fix our country and get it back on track, and help my family and me.

“And that what I’m really engaged in. Because, you know, when you’ve been on a campaign for 14 months there’s all kinds of other distractions, but at the end of the day this is a hiring decision,” she said.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 8:14 pm and is filed under Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Top Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.