Obama says contest makes him stronger

SAN ANTONIO -- On his way here for another election night vigil, Barack Obama said he's ready to fight for votes in Wyoming and Mississippi and relishes the prospect of a campaign that will "just make us stronger."

He telephoned John McCain to congratulate him on locking up the Republican presidential nomination. Obama told supporters here that he's looking forward to a fall campaign in which he and McCain will "offer two very different visions" to the nation.

Obama offered a game "Thank you, Texas!" to the crowd, well before the Associated Press declared Hillary Rodham Clinton the winner here. Because of the complicated formula for allocating Democratic delegates in Texas, it's possible Obama could still win the delegate race without the popular vote.

Obama won the Vermont primary, his 12th win since the Super Tuesday contests on Feb. 5. But Clinton's victory in Ohio and her strong performance in Texas left Obama and his aides trying to manage expectations.

"We started at 20 points behind in Texas and Ohio, and we closed the gap," Obama told reporters on his campaign plane, as he flew here hours before the polls closed. "Just remember where we are and where we have been."

Obama acknowledged that Clinton's pointed campaign against him — raising doubts about his foreign policy credentials, his views on the NAFTA trade deal and his relationship with a Chicago businessman now on trial for corruption — may have hurt him.

"If you're being attacked every day, it creates a sense of turbulence in the minds of people," Obama said. He vowed he would not launch negative attacks against her.

"We do things differently. It's worked for us so far," he said. "I'm not going to do things that I'm not comfortable in doing."

Obama and his campaign presented an unruffled front. "He's been very cool, calm and collected this whole year, most of which he's been down in the polls," said his wife, Michelle.

Still, there were tell-tale signs of the strain. Several times while talking to reporters, Obama referred to his rival in the plural: "We are running against very determined and tough opponents." It was a reference to former president Bill Clinton, who attacked him during the South Carolina primary.