No more underdog in Democrat race, U.S. voters say

By Andrea Hopkins

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - After yet another shift in momentum in the Democratic race for the U.S. presidential nomination, Americans said on Wednesday there was no longer a front-runner or underdog -- just a lot of weary voters.

"Part of me wishes someone would just pull ahead definitively," said Kentucky teaching assistant Karen Sherman, 41, of the protracted battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to clinch the Democratic nomination for president.

"I don't know that either one is an underdog -- they just go back and forth."

Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, won on Tuesday in Pennsylvania's primary, the latest state-by-state contest to choose the Democratic presidential nominee.

But the victory did little to settle the question of who will represent the party in November's presidential election, with Illinois Sen. Obama still holding a slight lead in both the popular vote and number of delegates who select the party's nominee at its August convention.

"If I was betting with my heart, I'd say Obama, but if I was betting with my wallet, I'd say Clinton (will win)," said Cincinnati Democrat Ken Corbus, 65. The self-employed businessman said he's pulling for Obama but believes the race is too close to call.

While Clinton started out more than a year ago as the Democrats' presumptive nominee, Obama surged ahead in recent months on the strength of rousing speeches and promises of change in Washington. Obama, 46, would be the first black president.

Now, after weeks of increasingly negative campaigning between the two, Democratic voters have begun to worry that the prolonged battle and no certain front-runner could put the party at a disadvantage against Republican John McCain in November.

"The way they are going they are both the underdog to McCain," said Corbus, over coffee at a Cincinnati Starbucks.

NECK-AND-NECK

Even with recent victories in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Clinton still trails Obama in most categories including states won.

"I don't see her as the underdog. If she had lost in Pennsylvania it would have made a difference. But they're still neck-and-neck and she's not going to let go until it's over," said 65-year-old Elizabeth McKell, of Overland Park, Kansas.

Al Aston, 63, a Texas retiree who tends to vote Republican, said Clinton's win in Pennsylvania changed nothing.

"She's still an underdog. She's still down quite a lot and this win in Pennsylvania was expected. And a lot of people really don't like her," he told Reuters in the driveway of his home in Euless, a suburb of Dallas.

Jackie Waits, a downtown Chicago office worker, disagreed.