Local Democratic Party leaders were split Wednesday on whether Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is tilting at windmills by staying in the race for the party's presidential nomination.

After Tuesday's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, Clinton will need to win about 65 percent of the remaining delegates and superdelegates to pull ahead of Obama, according to calculations by The New York Times. There are eight primaries left, and so far, Arkansas is the only contest she's won by that wide a margin.

"I think mathematically, it's looking harder and harder to find a way to overtake Obama," said Tom Mullens, a Clinton supporter and a member of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee.

Mullens said he hopes Clinton doesn't drop out, though.

"I'm not going to have any problem, as a Democratic activist, with either candidate waiting until the last primaries" on June 3, he said. "After that last primary, the superdelegates have got to make their choices, and then it should be clear."

Sandy Emberland, a Democratic Central Committee member and a delegate pledged to Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August, said she thinks it's time for Clinton to throw in the towel.

"I think (Tuesday's primaries) really changed the momentum," she said. "The numbers he won by in North Carolina were just astounding, and the numbers she won by in Indiana were very disappointing for her."

Emberland said she got enthusiastic phone calls all day from fellow Obama supporters. "Everyone's energized. People are just coming out of the woodwork," she said. "I think it will be over within the next couple of weeks, at the most. People are realizing that numbers are numbers, and there's no way she can win it."

Laura Winchester, the vice chairwoman of the Democratic Central Committee, initially supported John Edwards and has stayed neutral between Clinton and Obama.

"The numbers are not looking like they're in her direction, but I don't think she should give up," Winchester said. "They need to let the rest of the states vote, and then the superdelegates should weigh in. I think it should be settled in June. I don't think it will go all the way to the convention."

Adding to what Winchester called "a mess" of a process, the delegations from Florida and Michigan might not be seated because the Democratic Party wants to penalize those states for holding their primaries too early. That's another factor that will probably be worked out in June, she said.

"So much of this is all the states trying to jump ahead to be more relevant, and nobody became more relevant," Winchester said. "If California was still in June, we'd be huge this time. I hope the states and parties learned a lesson."