Obama's historic victory

[Angelo]

OBAMA'S HISTORIC VICTORY


Sheldon Alberts, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, June 04, 2008



Joe Raedle, Getty Images File PhotoBarack Obama was poised last night to become the first black presidential nominee in U. S. history, following primaries in Montana and South Dakota.
WASHINGTON - Barack Obama was poised last night to claim victory in the Democratic presidential race, defeating Hillary Clinton after a marathon primary campaign and becoming the first black nominee for the White House in American history.

With polls set to close yesterday evening in Montana and South Dakota, the Illinois Senator stood just nine delegates shy of reaching the 2,118 delegates needed to become the Democrats' presumptive nominee.

Mr. Obama was expected to easily surpass the Democrats' magic number after polls closed in the two western states, where he was expected to win at least half of the 31 pledged delegates up for grabs.

Mr. Obama edged to the threshold of victory after a chaotic last day of voting and backroom political dealing dominated by wild speculation about when Ms. Clinton would end her campaign, and what she wanted as a consolation prize.

In a private conference call with Democratic lawmakers from New York, Ms. Clinton said she would be "open to" becoming Mr. Obama's vice-presidential running mate if it would help the Illinois Senator win the upcoming general election campaign. "They have to be together in some capacity," said Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe.

Ms. Clinton's campaign insisted the former first lady would not admit defeat during a speech last night in her home state of New York. Instead, several Clinton aides said the New York Senator wanted to exit the race on her own terms after assessing her political options.

Still, there was confusion even within the Clinton camp about how the race would conclude.

"If Senator Obama gets the number, I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee," Mr. Mc-Auliffe said. Just minutes later, Ms. Clinton's campaign issued a terse statement denying she would formally concede.

One senior strategist, Harold Ickes, said Ms. Clinton may suspend her campaign and acknowledge Mr. Obama as the likely nominee, but still challenge the distribution of disputed delegates from Michigan.

"That is certainly possible," Mr. Ickes said.

The inevitability of Mr. Obama's victory became increasingly clear throughout yesterday as a steady stream of Democratic superdelegates -- party officials and lawmakers awarded automatic votes in the presidential race -- publicly announced their support for the Illinois Senator.

Dozens more, including former president Jimmy Carter, were expected to endorse the Illinois Senator either after polls closed in Montana and South Dakota, or by early today.

Still, the final hours of the campaign played out like a political tug of war.

Mr. Obama's aides spent the day working the phones, intent of winning enough super-delegate endorsements before polls closed so the Illinois senator could clinch the nomination on the strength of support from pledged delegates won in Montana and South Dakota.

At the same time, Ms. Clinton's aides were pressuring undecided superdelegates to hold off until today out of respect for the former first lady.

The final two primaries marked the end of a five-month Democratic campaign that began with Mr. Obama's upset win over Ms. Clinton in snowbound Iowa on Jan. 3.


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[Hellenika]

Can we stop with the black entitlement programs now? Barack Hussein Obama is proof that discrimation against blacks in the US has been a myth for some time now. He is also evidence of just how ignorant people are too. This guy has not 1 not 2 but 3 islamic names. Between him or Hillary I choose hell.