Some Clinton detractors have suggested that the shortfall reflects her campaign's overconfidence or lack of a strategy beyond the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests. But the presence or absence of delegate candidates on the April 22 primary ballot makes no difference in determining how many Pennsylvania delegates Clinton or Obama will have at the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

Officials at the Democratic State Committee and both candidates' campaigns agree the delegates in question will be divided between the presidential candidates in proportion to the presidential preference of party members in each of the state's 19 congressional districts.

If Clinton should win more delegate slots than she has candidates in any district, the state committee would fill them with additional Clinton-pledged delegates when it meets in June, the state party's executive director, Mary Isenhour, said yesterday.

"It's hard to get that worked up about something that really has no significant impact," said Mark Nevins, a spokesman for Clinton's Pennsylvania campaign.

The 103 pledged delegates drawn from the congressional districts represent the largest portion of the 187-member delegation that Pennsylvania will send to the convention.

In June, the state committee will choose 55 pledged delegates, who will be allocated according to the statewide presidential vote.

Also to be picked at that meeting are the last three of the state's 29 superdelegates.