Washington - Barack Obama clinched the Democratic
presidential nomination Tuesday night after a five-month battle with
Hillary Clinton, becoming the first African American to lead a major
political party into a general election in the United States.
Obama captured the majority of delegates needed to win the party's
nod on the final day of primaries in the five-month-old battle with
Hillary Clinton.
His victory was projected by US broadcast networks immediately
after polls closed in South Dakota Tuesday night, which along with
Montana held the last in the series of state-by-state contests that
began with Iowa on January 3.
Clinton did appear to have one last victory to her name, as US
broadcasters projected her the winner of South Dakota's primary. She
was leading the state 56 per cent to 44 per cent with 20 per cent of
precincts reporting.
But the victory would not be enough to stop Obama from passing the
mark of 2,118 delegates required to win the nomination outright.
'This is a hugely gratifying evening for us,' Obama's campaign
manager David Axelrod told CNN.
Axelrod said he expected Obama to declare victory in the long and
gruelling nomination fight at his rally in St Paul, Minnesota.
'We believe that when he gets on that stage ... he'll have the
delegates he needs to claim victory,' Axelrod said.
Clinton has yet to officially concede defeat, though her campaign
suggested earlier Tuesday that the former first lady would bow out if
Obama reached the required number of delegates.
Clinton was set to speak before supporters in New York. Her
campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, had said if Obama does secure the
required number of delegates, Clinton would likely acknowledge his
win.
Throughout the day a handful of super delegates - party leaders
and activists that cast their votes independently of the state
primaries - switched their allegiance to Obama, bringing him within
10 delegates of the clinching number before polls had even closed in
South Dakota and Montana.
USA
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