Senator Barack Obama's communications director has confirmed the presumptive Democratic nominee did meet with Senator Hillary Clinton on Thursday.

"They did meet tonight," said Robert Gibbs in answer to reporter's questions following rumours that the two were meeting to discuss the vice presidential nominee. Gibbs said earlier reports that the two had met at Sen. Clinton's home were incorrect however refused to give details of the meeting.

Both Obama and Clinton preferred not to disclose details of the meeting, releasing a statement saying: "Senator Clinton and Senator Obama met tonight and had a productive discussion about the important work that needs to be done to succeed in November."

Image: Hillary Clinton at the National Education Association Representative Assembly in Philadelphia., July 2, 2007. Credit: Llima/flickr

U.S. media reports (1,2,3) have said Sen. Hillary Clinton will formally concede the Democratic nomination to her opponent Sen. Barack Obama by the end of the week. Clinton, who has been criticised for not conceding defeat during her speech following the final Democratic primaries earlier this week, is expected to endorse Sen. Obama.

This'll have Democrats licking their lips...

CNN is reporting Senator Hillary Clinton has declared she will do "whatever it takes" to put a Democrat in the White House in November. The Obama camp is taking this as a sign that the former First Lady would be willing to accept an offer of Sen. Obama's running mate if offered.

"In her speech tomorrow night, [after the conclusion of the last primaries] she will convey the message that first and foremost she is committed to Democrats winning in November and will do whatever she's asked to do," said a Clinton campaign source quoted by the news company.

The Obama camp has been careful not to pressure the New York senator into withdrawing from the race after it became apparent that the odds of her winning were insurmountable.

However, after a bruising campaign, the likelihood of the New York senator being offered the position is far from guaranteed with some notable Obama supporters against the idea.

Sen. Barack Obama looks to be nearing his goal of gaining enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination as the two camps prepare for Tuesday's final two primaries in Montana and South Dakota.

Obama wont gain the pledged delegates from tomorrow's last two contests -- there aren't enough delegates on offer, however he is expected to be able to claim enough superdelegates to fall over the line, according to press reports.

With Obama needing just 41.5 delegates to win the nomination according to AP predictions, CNN has reported that most of the seventeen uncommitted Senate delegates will throw their support behind Obama following the end of the nomination process.

Image: Sen. Obama addresses a rally at the University of Maryland, Feb 2008. Credit: Thirty30 Photography/flickr