#1 It's All Over
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:06 pm
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06 ... ef=editionWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president, according to CNN estimates, making him the first African-American in U.S. history to lead a major-party ticket.
Obama picked up a slew of superdelegate endorsements on Tuesday. Those endorsements, combined with the delegates he's projected to receive from South Dakota's primary, will put him past the 2,118 threshold, according to CNN estimates.
Speaking in New York, Sen. Hillary Clinton, congratulated Obama for his campaign, but she did not concede the race nor discuss the possibility of running as vice president.
There were reports earlier in the day that she would concede, but her campaign said she was "absolutely not" prepared to do so.
"This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight," she said.
Clinton said she would meet with supporters and party leaders in the coming days to determine her next steps.
She also asked people to go to her Web site to "share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can."
CNN has projected that Clinton will win the primary in South Dakota and Obama will take Montana.
Those states marked the final contests in the primary season.
Obama will claim victory during a speech in St. Paul, Minnesota, according to prepared remarks released by his campaign.
"Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another -- a journey that will bring a new and better day to America," he's expected to say.
"Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States."
Obama will hold a rally at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the same arena which will house the 2008 Republican National Convention in September.
Obama is expected to praise Clinton's campaign. He has been speaking favorably of the New York senator as his focus has turned toward the general election and his battle against John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
"Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight," Obama will say.
Two New York lawmakers told CNN on Tuesday that Clinton expressed willingness during a conference call to serve as Obama's running mate in November.
One of the lawmakers said Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has been pushing the idea privately for several weeks. But in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, her campaign said there was nothing new in her remarks.
"Today on a conference call with New York legislators, Sen. Clinton was asked whether she was open to the idea of running as vice president and repeated what she has said before: She would do whatever she could to ensure that Democrats take the White House back and defeat John McCain," the former first lady's campaign said in a written statement Tuesday afternoon.
Former President Jimmy Carter and Rep. James Clyburn, the No. 3 Democrat in the House and the highest ranking African-American in Congress, were two of the most prominent superdelegate endorsements that Obama picked up.
"I came to that decision because I do believe that he has elevated this campaign," Clyburn said. "He has energized our constituents. He is redrawing an electoral map for Democrats."
CNN's Candy Crowley, Jim Acosta, Suzanne Malveaux, Paul Steinhauser and Robert Yoon contributed to this report.
The Iowa caucus was exactly five months ago.
