Candidates Scramble for Super Tuesday Votes

Feb. 5, 2008 — -- With the final scramble to Super Tuesday in full swing, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama started their day by making a final pitch to voters on network television.

Clinton told Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America" that with 22 states voting on the same day this year for the first time, no one knows how the extraordinarily tight race will shake out.

"It's unprecedented. We're all kind of guessing about what it's going to mean because it's never happened before," Clinton said on "GMA."

"Right now I am ahead in both the popular vote and in delegates — I hope I stay there," Clinton said. "It's intriguing and somewhat mystifying because none of us really understand what the impact of all these contests on one day will be for any of us."

Clinton downplayed her rival's spate of celebrity endorsements, including Sen. Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, California first lady Maria Shriver and the latest celebrity recruits — singer Dave Matthews and actor Robert DeNiro.

"Celebrity endorsements are intriguing, they're interesting, but they need a president who's going to be on their side. And with two wars abroad and a looming recession, people need a president who is ready on day one to be commander in chief and to turn the economy around," she said.

Obama's campaign got a boost in delegate-rich California, winning the endorsement of The Los Angeles Times and the state's largest Hispanic newspaper.

On "Good Morning America" Obama continued to position himself, as he has done throughout the campaign, as a Washington outsider intent on changing the status quo.

"American people are understanding unless we change how things work in Washington, unless we reduce the power of special interests and get our economy back on track, a lot of people are going to be hurting," Obama told ABC News' Diane Sawyer.

Obama responded to the Clinton campaign's recent suggestion that Obama would make a good vice presidential nominee.

"Right now we're in a pretty fierce contest and I think we're getting way too far ahead of ourselves when we start talking about vice presidential candidacies but I can tell you this, that's not something I'm running for," Obama said.