Clinton cites strength in swing states

NEW YORK, April 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., says her primary victories in Pennsylvania and Ohio were "the states we have to win" in Democrats' quest for the presidency.

"It's very hard to imagine a Democrat getting to the White House without winning those states," she said in a post-Pennsylvania assessment of swing states and her own enduring candidacy.

She also cited success in Michigan and Florida, though the Democratic Party disqualified those contests and her Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wasn't on the Michigan ballot.

Clinton says she is the candidate to beat Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican nominate, in the swing states because of her popularity among blue-collar workers, women and Hispanics, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Obama leads in the national popular vote and among delegates needed to win the nomination but neither Clinton nor Obama is expected to amass the needed number of delegates to secure the nomination before the party's convention in August.