Barack Obama is 41.5 delegates shy of the 2,118 needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Clinton needs 200.5. There are only 31 delegates up for grabs in today’s primaries in Montana and South Dakota.
Washington ? Barack Obama pushed close to victory in the marathon Democratic presidential race Monday on the eve of a final pair of primaries amid signs that Hillary Rodham Clinton was preparing to acknowledge defeat.
Said a confident-sounding Obama: “I told her that once the dust settled I’m looking forward to meeting with her at a time and place of her choosing.” That was from a conversation the two rivals had on Sunday night. He did not describe her response.
He also said he would begin thinking about a vice presidential running mate “the day after I have gotten that last delegate needed to officially claim the nomination.”
The former first lady gave no public hint of quitting the race, and she has said repeatedly she might continue her candidacy even beyond the end of the primaries.
But her husband, former President Clinton, strongly suggested otherwise. “This may be the last day I’m ever involved in a campaign of this kind,” he said as he worked for his wife in South Dakota.
Obama gained 5.5 delegates during the day Monday. Obama’s aides prodded uncommitted lawmakers and other “superdelegates” to climb on board quickly – as Clinton struggled to hold back the tide.
But there was no doubt that the historic nominating campaign was nearing an end.
If nothing else, the candidates’ itineraries said as much.
The former first lady campaigned into the night in South Dakota, scratching for a primary triumph that could somehow persuade uncommitted superdelegates to back her, before heading home to New York for a post-primary appearance tonight.
Obama looked ahead to the general election by campaigning in Michigan, a likely battleground state in the fall campaign.
