Democrats want swift end to Clinton-Obama fight

Democratic leaders are urging a quick end to the nomination fight between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, fearing their protracted campaigns are harming the party.

Mr Obama is now within striking distance of winning and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and party chairman Howard Dean will urge the issue be settled rather than drag on to the August convention.

“By this time next week, it will all be over, give or take a day,” Mr Reid said yesterday.

Democratic officials said Ms Pelosi already has begun contacting uncommitted super-delegates urging them to weigh in soon after the primary season ends.

Mr Obama is within 44 delegates of clinching the nomination and leads Mrs Clinton by 200 delegates. He has 1,982, to her 1,782, out of the 2,026 necessary for the nomination.

Mr Obama stands to gain a minimum of roughly 20 delegates in remaining primaries in Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota under party rules that distribute them in proportion to the popular vote – even if he loses all three.

Mrs Clinton is now hoping that leaders at a meeting of the party’s rules committee tomorrow will decide to include the votes from Michigan and Florida, whose primaries declared invalid after being held early without permission.

Her supporters are mobilising for protests there and Mrs Clinton has threatened to campaign to the convention if she is not satisfied with the results.

The party must handle the situation delicately. It wants to enforce discipline and not shift the campaign’s momentum, but must avoid alienating Mrs Clinton’s supporters and lose a chance at capturing two swing states that have the potential to go Republican.

Nationally, Mr Obama has developed a clear lead over Mrs Clinton – 54% to 41% in the latest poll. In April he and Mrs Clinton were running about even.

When matched against Mr McCain, Mr Obama is now running about even among all voters; he has had a narrow advantage over Mr McCain most of the year.

Mr Obama and Mr McCain have increasingly targeted each other as a November general election showdown between the two men seems inevitable. Rallying to counter Mr McCain’s criticism that he lacks foreign policy experience, Mr Obama said he is considering a trip to Iraq but dismissed as a “political stunt” an invitation by the Republican candidate to make the visit together.

Mr McCain, a decorated Navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war, has built much of his candidacy on his foreign policy and national security experience. While he supports continued US military involvement in Iraq, Mr Obama has called for a quick withdrawal of the troops. He made his only trip to Iraq in January 2006 as part of a congressional delegation.