Indianapolis (US): Hillary Clinton has sent a new signal that she is ready to prolong her battle with Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination past the end of the primary calendar next month.

Clinton insisted that the Michigan and Florida presidential primaries, which were voided over an internal party row, must be reinstated, raising the prospects of a party splitting backroom fued with her rival.

She said in June, "if we haven't done it already, we are going to have to resolve Florida and Michigan. They were legitimate elections, people came out and voted."

The former first lady spoke as voters in Indiana and North Carolina went to the polls in Democratic primaries, which will play a key role in shaping the end-game of the Democratic presidential duel.

Standing at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway auto racing track, she said the true finish line of the presidential race was 2,209 delegates including Florida and Michigan, and not 2,025 as has long been assumed.

"It's 2209," she said, after being endorsed by Indy 500 driver Sarah Fisher.

Clinton currently trails Obama in nominating contest wins and pledged delegates. His campaign says he is now only 276 votes short of capturing the Democratic Party nod.

The former first lady's last hope of overtaking her rival now rests on nearly 800 top party officials or superdelegates, and she is arguing that Obama is a liability in a general election matchup with Republican John McCain.

Florida and Michigan were stripped of their convention delegates after the two states jumped forward in the nomination calendar in contravention of party rules.

Source : PTI