Obama Is Poised To Clinch Victory

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Obama Is Poised To Clinch Victory
Clinton Ponders Options at Finish Line
By Shailagh Murray and Anne E. Kornblut
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, June 3, 2008; 10:00 AM

TROY, Mich., June 2 -- On the eve of the final two primaries of a five-month marathon, Sen. Barack Obama stood poised to wrap up the Democratic presidential nomination, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton weighed whether to stay in the race in hopes of delaying what appears to be an inevitable outcome.

Obama is optimistic that he will be able to claim victory Tuesday evening at a gathering in St. Paul, Minn., with superdelegates preparing to rally to his candidacy on the eve of the day's contests in South Dakota and Montana and push him past the threshold of 2,118 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Clinton sent mixed signals about her plans throughout the day Monday. As her campaign recalled field staffers to New York, one adviser indicated that she would suspend, but not end, her campaign within days. But the candidate herself said she will continue to argue to the group of party insiders who will hold sway over the final outcome that her strong showing in recent contests demonstrates that she would be the more electable candidate in November.

"Tomorrow is the last day of the primaries and the beginning of a new phase in the campaign," Clinton said in Yankton, S.D., before she prepared to depart for a Tuesday-night rally in New York. "After South Dakota and Montana vote, I will lead in the popular vote and Senator Obama will lead in the delegate count. The voters will have voted, and so the decision will fall to the delegates empowered to vote at the Democratic convention. I will be spending the coming days making my case to those delegates."

Party leaders worked behind the scenes to establish an outcome that would limit the long-term damage from the protracted and divisive campaign, hoping to provide a quick and graceful exit for Clinton and clear the path for the first African American presidential nominee.

On Capitol Hill, three uncommitted senators, Tom Harkin (Iowa), Thomas R. Carper (Del.) and Ken Salazar (Colo.), met Monday to discuss a "quick conclusion" to the Democratic race, but Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) privately urged them to delay any announcement until the final votes have been counted, according to multiple Democratic sources. But prominent Democrats predicted that members of Congress would unite around Obama's candidacy before week's end....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/03/AR2008060300888_pf.html