WASHINGTON - Dogged by defections and signs of financial trouble, Hillary Rodham Clinton faced a significant shift Wednesday even among supporters as talk turned from how she might win to how she can end her presidential campaign gracefully.

As more ballots trickled in from Indiana and North Carolina, Obama padded his lead in the delegate count and the national popular vote, increasing the already long odds against Clinton's winning the Democratic Party nomination. Democrats worried that another month of rough campaigning could further hurt Obama's chances in the fall.

Clinton showed no signs of quitting. She made a hastily planned visit to West Virginia, which votes Tuesday, and revealed she had loaned her cash-strapped campaign $6.4 million on top of an earlier $5 million infusion.

"I am in this race," the New York senator told a gathering of nearly 1,500 women supporters at a Washington fundraiser Wednesday night. "I am staying in this race."

But a day after losing North Carolina in a landslide and barely squeaking past Obama in Indiana, Clinton was suddenly in the position her rival occupied for the past few weeks: confronting doubts after her perceived underperformance.

Strategist Tad Devine, a 30-year veteran of Democratic politics who has remained neutral this primary season, was blunt in his assessment. "I think effectively the race is over," he said . "Obama will be the nominee of the Democratic Party. It's a question of how the end game comes about, its orchestration, whether or not he gains strength from it or is somehow diminished."

Obama had a day off at home in Chicago. Though he plans to campaign in West Virginia and in Oregon -- ahead of that state's May 20 primary -- aides said his focus will increasingly turn to the general election. Already, Obama has begun talking more about the presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"Everyone is eager to get on with it," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist.

Obama continued to gain support, picking up pledges from four superdelegates -- including former Clinton backers from North Carolina and Virginia -- as well as Inola Henry, a California member of the Democratic National Committee.

Pleading for cash

In a sign of her financial straits, Clinton sent out an e-mail appeal for money Wednesday; she planned to attend a Los Angeles fundraiser next week. "As long as she is fighting, I'm going to fight on," said Sim S. Farar, a Los Angeles entrepreneur who has raised millions for Clinton's candidacy. "This is a personal thing. As long as they're in, I'm in."

Some major donors were offended when they received calls and e-mail messages from Obama backers urging them to abandon Clinton's campaign.

"The fact is this is a marathon. She should be able to finish," said Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, who is among Clinton's top California fundraisers.

In a news conference at Shepherdstown, W.Va., where she had attended a college rally, Clinton suggested she would press her fight to seat delegates from Florida and Michigan -- which she won -- all the way to the convention floor, if necessary.

Neither candidate contested the states after they were stripped of their delegates for breaking party rules by holding their primaries too early. Both had agreed to honor the party's decision, and Obama kept his name off the Michigan ballot.

"Those were legitimate elections and they deserve to have those votes counted," Clinton said.

A beating in N.C.

Although the underlying fundamentals of the race were unchanged, there was a widely held view in political circles -- shared within the Clinton camp -- that Tuesday was a serious setback for her campaign. Obama's 14 percentage point win in North Carolina, where former President Clinton made a strenuous effort, was seen as a particular blow.

"It's a tough race," said Don Fowler, a former national Democratic Party chairman and Clinton superdelegate from South Carolina. "If things had been a little better in North Carolina, we would be stronger than we are today. But the game's not over till it's over."

Others, however, urged Clinton to reassess her campaign. "She has to look realistically at the vote and decide what's best for her candidacy, what's best for the country, what's best for the party," said Democratic Rep. Dale Kildee, a longtime Clinton backer.