Obama in West Virginia with eye on McCain

By Deborah Charles

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Barack Obama made a brief stop in West Virginia on Monday before an expected bad loss there to rival Hillary Clinton, but looked past the contest to plan for November's presidential campaign.

During a six-hour West Virginia trip, Obama announced he would visit the crucial November battleground states of Missouri, Florida and Michigan over the next week as he eyes a likely general election fight with Republican John McCain.

"There is an election here tomorrow. I am extraordinarily honored that some of you will support me," he told a rally in Charleston. "I understand that many more here in West Virginia will probably support Senator Clinton."

Clinton, a New York senator who has vowed to keep fighting despite dwindling prospects and a mounting campaign debt, also hunted for votes in West Virginia and showed no signs she was ready to call it quits despite some calls from Democrats for her to step aside.

"We need a president who can get in there and on day one roll up her sleeves and get to work for you -- and that's what I'm going to do," she said in Clear Fork, West Virginia.

Obama has a big lead on Clinton in their duel for the Democratic presidential nomination but appears headed to a bad defeat in West Virginia, where polls show her ahead by more than 20 points.

Voting ends in West Virginia on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 GMT) with results expected shortly afterward.

A big win for Clinton would not change her daunting task in trying to catch the Illinois senator, who has an almost insurmountable lead in delegates who will select the nominee at the party convention in August.