When he was asked about the debate between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama over who would be best prepared to field a 3 a.m. phone call in the White House, Mr. McCain said: “Well, I think many Americans, when they consider the three of us, I would believe that my knowledge and experience and background clearly indicates that if the phone rang at 3 a.m. in the White House, and I was the one to answer it, I would be the one most qualified to exercise the kind of judgment necessary to address a national security crisis.”
Mr. McCain’s advisers had hoped that Mr. McCain would win enough delegates in Tuesday’s race to put him over the top and secure the 1,191 delegates necessary for the Republican nomination. But even if Mr. McCain wins all of them — there are 256 Republican delegates at stake in Tuesday’s contests — he will not have enough to claim the nomination, according to tallies by The New York Times.
Nonetheless, The Associated Press has conducted a survey of superdelegates, which would give McCain another 102 unpledged delegates. If those are included in Tuesday’s count, Mr. McCain might have enough if he wins handily on Tuesday.
Mrs. Clinton began her day shaking hands at 5:35 a.m., when she stood just inside the turnstile at Chrysler’s Toledo North Assembly plant greeting workers as if she were running for a city council seat. “Help me out tomorrow, please,” she implored as workers passed by. “I’d be honored to have your vote.”
The reactions varied. One worker was pulled along by the crowd and ended up shaking Senator Clinton’s hand. “Aw, man,” he said. “Now I have to go home and wash my hands.” He declined to give his name. But Deborah Young, 51, a vehicle inspector, was mildly awe-struck. “Isn’t she the coolest?” she said.
On Monday evening, Mrs. Clinton made a brief detour from the campaign trail to appear via satellite on “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central. Standing at a rally in Austin, Tex., Mrs. Clinton took the first question from Mr. Stewart, who wondered why, with only one day left before the primaries on Tuesday, she was taking time to appear on his show. Mrs. Clinton replied: “It is pretty pathetic.”
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Elisabeth Bumiller reported from Washington, and John Broder from Toledo, Ohio. Michael Powell contributed reporting from San Antonio, Tex.; Michael Cooper from Phoenix; and Julie Bosman, Adam Nagourney and Dalia Sussman from New York.
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