Some Clinton staffers going without pay

Obama was heading late Wednesday to Louisiana, where he is favored to win the state's primary Saturday largely on his strength among black voters. He also planned to campaign in Nebraska and Washington state, which also hold contests that day.

Clinton was being more circumspect. She planned to campaign Thursday in Virginia, which holds its primary next Tuesday along with neighbors Maryland and the District of Columbia. She was also headed to Maine, which holds precinct caucuses Sunday.

Penn conceded the campaign would rely on surrogates to campaign for her in most of states holding contests Saturday, including President Clinton and daughter Chelsea. It was a tacit admission that the former first lady was unlikely to win any of those states outright.

Privately, her strategists have also largely written off her chances of winning the so-called Potomac primary Feb. 9, given the large black populations in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. They are also playing down her chances in the following week's major primaries _ Hawaii, where Obama grew up, and Wisconsin, which has virtually sealed the nomination for other Democrats in years past.

Obama's advantage
Wisconsin's Democratic electorate is largely liberal and college educated, and its open primary allows independents to vote — all factors that favor Obama.

Clinton political director Guy Cecil insisted the campaign was competing hard in all those places. The campaign has paid staff in Wisconsin.

The campaign, however, was clearly focused on the March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas, both of them offering a trove of delegates. But both states have several media markets, making advertising an expensive proposition. A state wide race in Texas can cost $1 million a week in advertising.

Cecil identified Texas as a top priority. "We think it is a linchpin in our nomination to the presidency," he said.

Obstacles ahead
While Clinton was focusing on Ohio and Texas, her organized supporters were weighing in for her in upcoming state contests. The American Federation of Teachers was going up with radio ads promoting her in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. They also planned a two-week placement of radio ads in Wisconsin, which holds its primary Feb. 19.

Clinton faces significant fundraising obstacles ahead, raising the possibility that she might have to dip into the family's wealth again. The Clinton's financial disclosures, which reveal only broad ranges of assets, place their wealth between $10 million to $50 million.

Campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson said the loan came from Sen. Clinton's "share of their joint resources."

An analysis by the Campaign Finance Institute, which tracks trends in political money, found that Obama raised about a third of his money in 2007 from donors who gave $200 or less. Only one-third of his money came from donors who have given the legal maximum of $2,300, compared to Clinton who raised about half of her money from "maxed out" donors and only 14 percent from donors of $200 or less.

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