Both Democratic presidential candidates took Sunday off after a bruising week left both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama licking their wounds.

And the battle between the two senators is beginning to pay dividends for Republicans -- for the first time, polls are showing that John McCain leads Clinton and Obama in a presidential match-up.

"It's been a long week," Obama said, understating a week that had both major highs and lows.

As for highs, a surprise -- and coveted -- endorsement from New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as well as a stirring speech on race in America that was roundly praised as one of Obama's best.

But the lows were significant -- videos of Obama's inflammatory longtime pastor saying "God damn the United States of America," among other controversial comments, played countless times on television networks and websites.

Also, Bill Clinton talked about a presidential election between his wife and McCain and -- according to Obama's backers -- questioned the first-term Illinois senator on his patriotism.

And when Obama's camp returned fire, things only seemed to get worse.

"As one who for 37 years proudly wore the uniform of our country, I'm saddened to see a president employ these kinds of tactics," retired Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak said of Clinton's comments.

But then in an aside to reporters, McPeak added, "It sounds more like McCarthy . . . I was going to college when Joe McCarthy was accusing good Americans of being traitors, so I've had enough of it."

The Clinton campaign jumped on the comments saying that the Obama camp - which has prided itself on taking the 'high road' - was trying to have it both ways.

Obama already let go of his foreign policy advisor after she referred to Hillary Clinton as a "monster."

"We had a couple tough weeks and I assume that when I'm president there will be periods where we're tested in these same kinds of ways," Obama said.

It's something similar to what Clinton been said after her campaign seemed down for the count at several points during the contest.

"I think everybody here knows I've lived through some crises and some challenging moments in my life," she said during a Democratic debate.

Obama still leads

The battle between the democrats is only expected to get worse in the coming weeks. Obama has a numerically significant lead on Clinton in the delegate count, and many political analysts expect Clinton's only hope is to win over the undecided superdelegates - the party elders who have a vote.

"The only way Hillary Clinton can be the democratic nominee is to win this ugly," Mark Halperin of Time Magazine told CTV's Tom Clark. "She has to basically disqualify Obama in the mind of these undecided democratic superdelegates."

And what has to be alarming for Democratic Party leaders, some supporters of Obama and Clinton appear to be so angry with the other contender that they say they will vote for McCain if their candidate doesn't make the 2008 presidential ballet.

"I think I'd have to vote for McCain. I'm just not a Barack Obama fan," one Clinton supporter said to CTV News.

"I'd have a hard time voting for Hillary Clinton," says an Obama supporter.

Obama has the edge -in delegates, money and big-name support -- but that doesn't seem to dissuade Clinton. It's unlikely she will walk away from this fight and this is one battle that might not be decided until June.

From now until then McCain won't need to spend much time tearing down his potential opponents - they'll be doing that for him.

With a report from CTV's Tom Clark and The Associated Press