Obama on brink of history, Clinton refuses to quit
2008-06-03

Nations U.S. States South Dakota Montana People Hillary Clinton Dianne Feinstein Barack Obama John McCain George W. Bush Event US Election 2008

Barack Obama was poised to make history Tuesday by becoming America's first black presidential nominee, as a flow of Democratic Party support thrust his rival Hillary Clinton towards defeat.

Democratic officials or superdelegates leapt onto 46-year-old Obama's bandwagon, as Montana and South Dakota closed out a rancorous, coast-to-coast presidential nominating marathon, which has split the party's support in two.

By early evening, the Illinois senator was just 12 delegates away from the nomination, according to his campaign.

With 31 delegates up for grabs in the final two primaries, and more superdelegate endorsements in the offing, Obama was virtually assured of passing the magic number of 2,118 delegates needed to capture the nomination.

In the frenzied endgame of the gruelling 17-month campaign, Clinton meanwhile said for the first she may be ready to serve as Obama's vice president, in a phone call with lawmakers from her New York state.

The former first lady said "she would be open to the VP slot," a staffer with the New York delegation who had knowledge of the conference call told AFP.

A staunch Clinton supporter, California Senator Dianne Feinstein meanwhile told CNN it was time for the former first lady to fold her quest for her own slice of history -- her attempt to become America's first woman president.

"It is in fact a moment of truth," Feinstein said, and called on Obama to pick Clinton as his vice presidential nominee.

But Clinton's campaign denied a report that she would concede defeat at a hastily organized "celebration" at New York City on Tuesday night.

"Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening," a statement from the Clinton campaign read, saying reports that she would do were wrong.

A senior Clinton aide told AFP: "There are still people voting, and she is committed to letting everyone vote."

Senior Clinton advisors huddled with the candidate at her home in Chappaqua, New York. Throughout the day, flower deliveries were seen arriving at the whitewashed house.

Even Clinton's most upbeat cheerleader, campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe, admitted that if the mathematics favored Obama, there was little she could do.

"If Senator Obama gets the number, I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him, call him the nominee," he told NBC.

"She has given her heart and soul to this campaign. We'll go through today. Let's see where the numbers are," he said.

James Clyburn, an influential African-American leader and a giant in Congress, endorsed Obama early Tuesday and urged other unpledged superdelegates to make their choices known.

"Today, the process ends," he told NBC.

Obama planned to train his full fire on potential general election rival John McCain, with a daring foray into the same Minnesota sports arena where Republicans will crown their nominee in September.

McCain was expected to hit back with his own speech, in the hurricane-ravaged southern city of New Orleans.

The Arizona senator was expected to attempt to separate himself from some of the unpopular policies of Republican President George W. Bush, and to hammer Obama over his vow to bring troops home from the Iraq war.

Polls were to close at 7:00 pm in South Dakota (0000 and 0100 GMT Wednesday), and at 8:00 pm in Montana (0200 GMT).

Obama, the former community organizer who has scaled the heights of US politics after just three years in the Senate, already had an eye on healing his party after a nominating duel which cleaved it down the middle.

He divulged some of the content of his congratulatory telephone call to the former first lady after her thumping win in the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday, which boosted her morale but could not dent his control of the race.

"I emphasized to her what an extraordinary race that she's run," Obama told reporters in Michigan Monday.