By Mike Manzoni

Despite a resurgence of momentum for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY.), she did not make a major dent into Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) lead in the delegate count needed to capture the Democratic nomination, leading to an increase in hostility between the two campaigns and an intra-party fight that will likely go all the way to the national convention in Denver in late August.

Clinton won both the Ohio and Texas primaries Tuesday night, surprising Obama in contests some thought would cause Clinton to drop out of the race, since former President Bill Clinton called both states “must wins.”

Ending his record of 12 straight wins since Super Tuesday, Obama captured only one state: Vermont.

“For everyone in Ohio and America who has been counted out but refused to be knocked out . . . this one is for you,” Clinton said, addressing a crowd of supporters in Columbus, Ohio.

After the March 4 contests, The Associated Press estimates a 101-delegate lead for Obama, including superdelegates. Obama has 1,564, while Clinton has 1,463 delegates.

Because of the continued deadlock, Democratic party operatives are trying to work out a do-over for Florida and Michigan, states that the Democratic party stripped of its convention delegates because they held their primaries before Feb. 5, the earliest date, the party ruled, that states could hold nominating contests, with only Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina exempt.

“Either state can choose to resubmit a plan and run a party process to select delegates to the convention [or] they can wait until this summer and appeal to the Convention Credentials Committee, which determines and resolves any outstanding questions about the seating of delegates,” said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean in a statement issued Wednesday evening

“We look forward to receiving their proposals should they decide to submit new delegate selection plans and will review those plans at that time. The Democratic Nominee will be determined in accordance with party rules, and out of respect for the presidential campaigns and the states that did not violate party rules, we are not going to change the rules in the middle of the game,” he added.

Texas, in addition to having a primary, also has a caucus. The result of the second contest was not yet determined, but Obama appeared to be in the lead. Delegates in Texas are awarded in a complicated appropriation process. Clinton may have won the popular primary vote there, but because she did not win the more densely populated urban areas, Obama will likely edge her in the delegate count in Texas.

Clinton won the sparsely populated rural areas in western Texas, along the Mexico border and in the panhandle, where voters tend to be either white or Hispanic. She beat Obama in Ohio by 10 percentage points, 54 percent to 44 percent.

“It’s [Ohio] a state that knows how to pick a president,” she said, “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.” She added that no president in recent history has won the nomination without winning the Ohio primary.

The divisive night of primaries and caucuses followed a week of campaigning in which Clinton aired an ad – now known as the “3 a.m. ad” – which questioned viewers on who they would want answering the White House phone at 3 a.m. should a problem arise immediately warranting presidential action.

The Clinton camp also questioned a memo obtained by The Associated Press that outlined a meeting between Obama’s economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, and a representative of the Canadian government at the Canadian consulate in Chicago.

The memo detailed a meeting in which Goolsbee told the Canadian representative to take Obama’s comments against free trade as “more of a political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans.”

Last week, Obama denied that the meeting ever took place, but early this week admitted he knew of the meeting, but insisted Goolsbee did not represent his views.

Obama spoke to reporters yesterday, telling them he would be a better candidate to beat Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the general election.

“If the suggestion is somehow that . . . she’s going to have a better record than I have and will be better able to withstand Republican attacks, I think that’s an issue that should be tested,” he said.

“I think that I am in a much stronger position to run against the Republicans than she is; otherwise, I wouldn’t be running for president,” Obama added.

Meanwhile, Clinton said at a press conference, “I have a lifetime of experience. McCain has a lifetime of experience. Obama’s campaign is about one speech he made in 2002.” She said her series of losses last month may have been due to the fact that McCain was not yet the Republican nominee.

“People who voted a month ago didn’t know who the Republican nominee was going to be. They didn’t perhaps factor in that it will be about national security because, indeed, with Senator McCain, that’s what it will be about,” she said.

Despite the continued sparring of words between the Democratic hopefuls, Clinton, in an interview with CBS on Tuesday, said a Clinton-Obama ticket may be a possibility.

“Well, that may, you know, be where this is headed,” she said when asked if she would consider her rival for vice president. “But, of course, we have to decide who’s on top of the ticket, and I think that the people of Ohio very clearly said that it should be me.”

Before delegate-rich Pennsylvania, two more states hold contests. Wyoming holds its caucus Saturday and the Mississippi primary is March 11.