Obama, Clinton look to West Virginia

But even an overwhelming win by Clinton in West Virginia, which only has 28 delegates, would not have much of an impact in Obama's overall delegate lead.

Obama has 1,864.5 delegates and Clinton has 1,697, according to the latest AP tally; 2,025 are needed to secure the Democratic nomination.

Obama, who is vying to become the first black U.S. president, has also overtaken Clinton in the all-important count of superdelegates -the nearly 800 party and elected officials who are free to support whomever they choose, regardless of the primary results.

Since neither Obama nor Clinton is expected to win enough delegates in the remaining primaries to clinch the nomination at the Democratic Party national convention in August, the superdelegates will most likely decide the race.

The New York senator started the year with a lead of 169-63 among superdelegates, but was surpassed by Obama, who now has backing from 276 superdelegates compared with Clinton's 274.5, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press.

Obama, who was at home Sunday taking a day off from the campaign, has been shifting his campaign focus from the drawn-out nominating battle with Clinton to the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain.

Obama's chief strategist said in a television interview Sunday that his campaign is considering a suggestion from McCain's campaign for the two presidential hopefuls to participate in joint town meetings and debates around America starting this summer.

Asked on "Fox News Sunday" about the suggestion and how seriously it was being considered, David Axelrod said: "Very seriously. ... We believe that is the most significant election we've faced in a long time."

"We're at war. Our economy is in turmoil. And we've got so many challenges that the people of this country deserve a serious discourse, and it shouldn't be limited necessarily to three kind of very regimented debates in the fall," he added, referring to those sanctioned by a presidential commission.

Axelrod declined to discuss details. So did aides to McCain, saying they would rather wait until they have an official opponent.