The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Miami

Invoking Democratic nightmares of the 2000 Florida presidential recount, Hillary Clinton demanded the revival of two voided primaries as she sought to halt Barack Obama's march toward the party's nomination.

The Democratic rivals canvassed the key battleground state of Florida on Wednesday, but with different races in mind. While Obama traded blows with Republican presumptive nominee John McCain in a preview of their potential matchup in the November general election, Clinton pressed for the Florida and Michigan primaries to be reinstated. The former first lady was in a feisty mood at a rally in Boca Raton, warning her party had deprived voters of basic rights by stripping the two states.

of national convention delegates over a scheduling dispute.

"You learned the hard way what happens when your votes aren't counted and the candidate with fewer votes is declared the winner," she told supporters.

"The lesson of 2000 here in Florida is crystal-clear: if any votes aren't counted, the will of the people is not realized and our democracy is diminished."

Clinton's hopes of becoming the first female presidential nominee were dealt a blow Tuesday after the two candidates split the latest primaries in Kentucky and Oregon, leaving Obama just 67 delegates short of claiming the nomination.

Clinton, trailing Obama in every metric of the race, needs a solution to the Florida-Michigan imbroglio to claim victory in the popular vote and bolster her claim that she is the rightful nominee.

She won the discounted primaries, though neither candidate campaigned in Florida and Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan.