WASHINGTON – Sen. Charles Schumer warned that presidential candidates who expected the race for the Democratic nomination to be over in a couple of weeks will have to keep their running shoes laced up, because the finish line may have just moved.
“I think this election could well go past Feb. 5,” Schumer told The Post.
All of the campaigns were originally structured for a conclusion on Super Tuesday, when 22 states hold Democratic contests – with 1,688 delegates at stake. Hillary Rodham Clinton adviser Terry McAuliffe said her camp had paid most of its expenses through that day.
Clinton has racked up two victories so far, in New Hampshire and Nevada, while Barack Obama won in Iowa. Obama is the favorite going into South Carolina, which will vote Saturday.
Schumer, whom many credit for his party’s victories in the 2006 Senate elections because of his work as Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman, suggested that the Maryland and Virginia primaries on Feb. 12 may be crucial.
If there is no decisive winner by that point, Wisconsin, which will hold its primary on Feb. 19, and even Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont on March 4, could determine the Democratic nominee.