From the Politico [HERE]
By: Carrie Budoff Brown and Ben Smith

CHICAGO – As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton made a last-minute trip to West Virginia and declared her intent to stay in the race, aides to Sen. Barack Obama signaled Wednesday that he would move towards a general election strategy over the next month.

Obama has accumulated a lead in pledged delegates that is all but insurmountable – a point that Clinton campaign officials acknowledged Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. That pushes the campaign largely into political backrooms, as both candidates made plans to meet privately Wednesday and Thursday with uncommitted superdelegates in Washington.

Aides to Obama, who spent Wednesday in Chicago with his family, said the Illinois senator would campaign in the remaining primary states and Puerto Rico. He heads to Oregon, which votes May 20, on Friday for a two-day trip and travels Monday to West Virginia, which votes May 13.  When asked whether Obama would campaign over the next month in general election states, Axelrod said: “I guess you can infer that from what I said.”

“We have to continue to fight as hard as we can to secure this nomination and that's our first, second and third goal,” Plouffe said. “Obviously, you know, we also don't want to wake up the morning of June 4th or June 10th or whenever this is gonna end and not be prepared so we're gonna do the things we can in kind of our off hours to be ready.”

“It would be inappropriate and awkward and wrong for any of us to tell Senator Clinton when it is time for the race to be over,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). “This is her decision and it is only her decision. We are confident that she is going to do the right thing for the Democratic nominee. We are confident that she will help, work hard to unite our party.”

With a deliberately cheery conference call and a single campaign stop, the candidate and her staff gave no public indication that Tuesday’s election would derail her campaign. She did, however, unilaterally disarm, dropping a key aspect of her underdog’s campaign: Sharp attacks on the frontrunner.

Clinton did not mention Obama during her visit to Shepherdstown, W.Va. – a late addition to her schedule, located just 80 miles from Washington, D.C.

“Next Tuesday, I hope you will give me a chance to be your president,” she said.

“The base I've put together in this primary is a stronger place to start from,” she told reporters in Shepherdstown.

Instead, they gave an unusually explicit nod to the racial calculus of electability.

Clinton’s campaign touted the endorsement of one superdelegate, North Carolina Heath Shuler, who kept a pledge to follow the voters of his North Carolina district. But Obama received four superdelegate endorsements, including one who switched from Clinton, Jennifer McClellan of Virginia.

“I, as you know, have great fondness and great respect for Sen. Clinton and I’m very loyal to her,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D-Calif.). “Having said that, I’d like to talk with her and hear her view on the rest of the race and what the strategy is.”

“It's her decision to make and I'll accept what decision she makes,” he said.