Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama pressed ahead Thursday in their bids for the White House by courting voters in upcoming primaries and caucuses in Louisiana, Nebraska, Maine and Washington Saturday, and Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia on Tuesday.

Fresh from trading victories on Super Tuesday where Obama won 13 of 22 primary states and Clinton won eight including California, neither candidate delivered a knock-out blow and so the battle continues where every delegate and every state counts.

Clinton leads the delegate count by 93 delegates -- 835 to 732, but some political observers said Obama may have an edge because Clinton’s campaign appeared to be having financial issues, and one top Democratic told BlackAmericaWeb.com that Clinton’s staff hasn’t been paid in months.

Peter C. Groff, a Colorado state senator, publisher of Blackpolicy.org and executive director of the Center for African-American Policy at the University of Denver, said with seven primary races between Friday and Tuesday, Obama clearly got the most momentum out Super Tuesday.

"He's displaying a rather unique ability at carefully managing expectations while raising large sums of cash and experiencing steady climbs in the polls," Groff told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

"Only three months ago, his performance to date wouldn't have seemed conceivable," Groff said. "He appears able to pick up Washington and Nebraska since those are caucus states. He's doing well in caucuses and showing a superiority in retail politicking. Louisiana is the toss up due to the significant displacement of black residents post-Katrina. Maine is a caucus, so he should manage that well, too."

Battling for every dollar and delegate, Obama raised $7.2 million in Super Tuesday's wake and Clinton pulled in $6.4 million, stunning totals reflecting the intensity of their neck-and-neck race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Keenly aware of Obama's growing strength, Clinton challenged him to five debates in the next month. Obama initially put her off, then later agreed to two.

"We'll have some debates," Obama promised. But first, he said, "I've got to spend time with voters." Clinton, he argued, is better-known to voters in states coming up on the primary calendar.

Clinton, who loaned her campaign $5 million in the run-up to Super Tuesday, brushed aside the notion she has money problems. She pointed to the roughly even split of delegates still being allocated from Tuesday's primaries and caucuses as evidence her campaign has the financial muscle to compete.

"We're going to be fine," said Clinton. "By the end of the week, we'll be back on track," she told ABC News in an interview Thursday.

The remarkable outpouring of contributions recorded since Tuesday's contests in 22 states comes on the heels of an eye-popping $32 million raised by Obama in January and the record-shattering $100 million each Obama and Clinton raised in 2007 in their neck-and-neck race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Michelle Bernard, a black conservative and president of the Washington D.C.-based Independent Women’s Forum, said there are about 202 delegates at stake between Feb. 9 and 12.

"Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton are virtually deadlocked in their battle to win the Democratic presidential nomination," Bernard told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

"This race may go on with no clear front runner through the April 22 Pennsylvania primary," she said. "Money will be key, and fund-raising may prove a much easier task for the Obama campaign, given the fact that Sen. Clinton has had to loan her campaign $5 million, and most of her donors have already hit the maximum allowed under law."

""Moving forward, Obama and Clinton will continue to look for the support of women, African-Americans, Hispanics and white men." Bernard added. "The gap is narrowing with each primary, and it appears that time is on Senator Obama's side."

Obama has been riding a wave of fundraising from large donors and small Internet contributors. While not matching Obama's pace, Clinton also saw an online surge of donations from 35,000 new contributors since midnight Tuesday, Clinton campaign aides said.

Clinton acknowledged Wednesday that she loaned her campaign $5 million late last month as Obama was outraising and outspending her heading into the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests. Some senior staffers on her campaign also are voluntarily forgoing paychecks as the campaign heads into the next round of contests.

Clinton said the loan and salary deferrals were not a sign of financial difficulties.

"No, not at all," Clinton told ABC. "We were outraised in January, which we took steps immediately to address, and I think the results on Super Tuesday showed that we were more than competitive. Since Tuesday we've raised millions of dollars on the Internet, so we're going to be fine.

"And my staff is so dedicated that they stepped up and said, 'Look, this is so important we're going to do our part.' I did my part. So we're going to be in very good financial shape. People are rallying around, and I think by the end of the week, we'll be back on track."

But Groff maintains that the big story is the fact that Clinton is lending her campaign money she does not have: $5 million.

"Her staff hasn't been paid in months," Groff said. "Shades of Perot, Forbes, Kerry and Romney? She's got to be worried because campaigns that self-finance don't seem to do all that well in the end. Her campaign is running on fumes and personality."

"Just as real estate experts claim it's all about location, in politics it's 'money, money, money,'" he said. "The fact that [Obama] is running ads when she's not lays out a grim road ahead for Clinton in the coming days. But, we'll have to wait since this election has done a good job at defying conventional wisdoms."

On the Republican side, Mitt Romney, who spent millions of his own money trying to become the conservative favorite for the White House, suspended his campaign for the presidency on Thursday -- effectively ending it.

He said he had to withdraw so that Republicans could mount the most effective fall campaign against Democrats who want to withdraw from Iraq.

"The withdrawal of Mitt Romney from the Republican presidential race leaves that race to Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mike Huckabee," Bernard said. "Gov. Huckabee has a large following in the African-American community, and it will be interesting to see whether his appeal among African-Americans, Republican women, evangelical Christians and self-identified social conservatives will translate into a wining campaign in Louisiana, Nebraska, and Kansas over the weekend."

"There are 56 Republican delegates at stake this weekend," Bernard added. "In all probability, Sen. McCain will focus on retaining the support of moderates and independents while attempting to gain the support social conservatives who, to date, do not support his candidacy. Gov. Huckabee, who appears to be gaining the support of Republican women, African-Americans and evangelical Christians, will focus on increasing his support among these core constituencies."

Political activists say Obama should do well in the District of Columbia, a predominantly black city with 15 pledged delegates. D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty endorsed him months ago.

Maryland also is well-suited to the Illinois senator, party insiders say, while Virginia is more of a toss-up.

Virginians do not register by party, which allows independents to vote in either primary. That might help Obama, but it complicates all campaigns' efforts to target and predict likely voters, especially among newcomers.

Maryland has two large blocs of voters -- African-Americans and affluent white liberals -- who have flocked to Obama in other states. Black voters are concentrated in Baltimore and the large Washington suburb of Prince George's County.

Highly educated, upper-income whites are especially prevalent in another major Washington suburb -- Montgomery County, which includes Bethesda, Silver Spring and Rockville.

The nation's capital and its suburbs have a rare opportunity to help decide a presidential election rather than just obsess about it, as next Tuesday's three-jurisdiction contest centers on Washington D.C. and its two neighbors.

Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia usually hold primaries after the two parties' nominees are settled. This year, however, the Democratic nomination remains very much in play -- and the Republican contest still has life -- as the contests move to the mid-Atlantic region.

Groff added that Obama is perceived as having a serious advantage in the "Potomac Primary" of D.C., Maryland and Virginia. D.C. is still fairly a "Chocolate City."

"Maryland's black population -- politically powerful in places such as Prince George's County and Baltimore -- accounts for nearly 50 percent of the primary electorate," Groff said.

"It'll be interesting to watch what happens to elected officials in that state who are endorsing Clinton when clearly the African-Americans there are fired up by Obama," he added. "White males may be the key to an Obama win in Virginia, and if he runs strong, look to see Gov. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Mark Warner becoming attractive running mate considerations."

Meanwhile, Iowa Gov. Chet Culver endorsed Obama for President Thursday, citing his ability to work with Democrats and Republicans to get things done and his lifelong record of standing up to special interests on behalf of working families.

"It’s clear the American people are hungry for change, and they're looking for a leader who can push back on the special interests," said Culver. "It’s time for a new, fresh approach to governing in Washington, and Sen. Barack Obama represents this new approach."

Obama, campaigned in New Orleans on Thursday, offering himself as the best candidate to restore competence to the White House and rebuild trust broken by the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina.

Speaking at Tulane University ahead of Saturday's Louisiana primary, the Illinois senator accused Bush of failing to do enough to help the Gulf Coast recover from the devastating storm of August 2005. He proposed a multifaceted program for the area, but did not indicate its total cost or how he would pay for it.

"When I am president," Obama told about 4,000 people in Tulane's basketball arena, "we will finish building a system of levees that can withstand a 100-year storm by 2011, with the goal of expanding that protection to defend against a Category 5 storm."

Democrats should "think about who matches up best against John McCain," Obama told reporters during a flight from New Orleans to Nebraska.

"I would be in a stronger position to have a discussion about how we're going to reform Washington against John McCain, given that I don't take PAC money, I don't take federal lobbyists' money, I've been a champion on these issues," Obama said. "I think Senator Clinton would have a harder time making some of those arguments."

Craig Kirby, a Democratic strategist from Washington, D.C., said he is fielding numerous calls from enthusiastic voters across the country.

"I'm beginning to receive calls from friends asking the question: ‘How do I get involved?'" Kirby told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "Folks around the country are beginning to pay attention and really become engaged."