Voters go to polls as Obama prepares for nomination

6/3/2008 - 12:48:49 PM

Voters in the final two US states of the primary season were going to the polls today as Barack Obama prepared to become the first black presidential nominee of a major US party.

Illinois senator Mr Obama needs just 41.5 delegates to clinch the party’s nomination after one of the closest and most expensive primary seasons in memory.

The Clinton campaign showed signs of drawing to a close and Mr Obama is widely expected to reach the magic number of 2,118 delegates needed to win the nomination as the final superdelegates, party leaders and elected officials whose votes are not tied to the state results, take sides after the results in South Dakota and Montana are known tonight.

While his rival Hillary Clinton continued to campaign relentlessly, her husband former president Bill Clinton indicated the end may be near.

“This may be the last day I’m ever involved in a campaign of this kind,” he told voters in South Dakota.

Harold Ickes, a top aide to the 60-year-old New York senator, also conceded that Mr Obama was likely to reach the delegate threshold by tomorrow, and that Mrs Clinton would need some time to consider her next step.

Also, in a rare departure from her campaign practice, Mrs Clinton plans to return to her home state of New York this evening for her post-primary appearance.

Speaking at a restaurant in Rapid City, South Dakota, she said: “I’m just very grateful we kept this campaign going until South Dakota would have the last word.”

Many political pundits have speculated that the gruelling battle between the two Democrats may have damaged the party’s chances of beating Republican John McCain in November’s general election.

However, Mr Obama has set about winning over her passionate supporters and has asked the former first lady for a meeting on her terms.

“I told her that once the dust settled I’m looking forward to meeting with her at a time and place of her choosing,” he said.

“The sooner we can bring the party together, the better, so we can focus on John McCain and taking back the White House.”

He added 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”.

He also dismissed fears that the party would be unable to unite for the general election campaign.

“Senator Clinton has run an outstanding race, she is an outstanding public servant and she and I will be working on November,” he said.

Mrs Clinton has had a strong run through the late primaries and has repeatedly declined to say she would concede defeat if her rival appeared to gain the delegates he needed.

Officials said that if Mr Obama did fail to win the support of 2,118 delegates by tonight, one possibility under discussion was for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi to issue a statement on Wednesday urging superdelegates to state their preferences as soon as possible.

In today’s primaries, Mr Obama is expected to win both South Dakota and Montana, which offer a combined total of 31 delegates.

He currently has 2,076.5 delegates, compared with Mrs Clinton’s 1,917.5, according to Associated Press figures.

Mr Obama has also made up most of the ground he lost at the weekend when the national party’s rules committee agreed to reinstate delegates from Michigan and Florida, which had been punished for holding their primary contests too early.

They will each be given half a vote each instead of a full vote at the convention.

An analysis of political advertising also showed the Republican and Democratic candidates have spent almost US$195m (€125m) on television advertising so far, with the Democratic contenders paying the bulk at about US$136m (€87.2m).

Mr Obama outspent all the Republicans combined by more than US$17m (€10.9m).