Amid clamor to drop out, Clinton campaigns on

By Ellen Wulfhorst

BATH, South Dakota (Reuters) - Sitting on board Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign plane are the remnants of a colorful balloon replica of the candidate, once nearly life-size but now almost deflated and shriveled.

Like the once cheery caricature, the former first lady soldiers on, but her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is on the down-swing.

Crowds are shrinking, media attention is waning, supporters are jumping ship and calls are growing for her to drop out and help unite the Democrats behind Barack Obama.

Her voice hoarse and less forceful than it has been in more impassioned speeches, Clinton still seemed inscrutable and upbeat campaigning this week in South Dakota. The rural state holds one of the last nominating primaries on June 3.

"There's a lot of people who say, 'Well, you know, we should just wrap this up.' Well, I've never been impatient with democracy," she said. "I think actually letting people vote is, on balance, a really good thing and has served our country well over many, many years."

Clinton, a New York senator, vows to stay in the race until the last primary despite a campaign deeply in debt. She trails Illinois Sen. Obama in the popular vote, in pledged convention delegates and in superdelegates who can back any candidate they choose.

"You're going to see a lot of us between now and June 3," she told voters in South Dakota.

While the candidate once campaigned relentlessly with four or five events a day, she now has two or three. The number of press spokesmen with her is down to one from two, and the press corps barely fills one bus when once it filled two.