Wed, May 21 11:47 AM
Democratic front-runner Barack Obama moved closer to a victory in the presidential nomination race, capturing a majority of pledged delegates as the two end-game primaries saw him and rival Hillary Clinton sharing the honours.
Clinton, who picked up a thumping double-digit victory in Kentucky, vowed to continue the fight at least until the final three primaries in June or even perhaps the party convention in Denver in August which would finally nominate the Democrat candidate for White House.
The African-American Senator strengthened his position for nomination by getting better of the former first lady in Oregan. Analysts noted that while Kentucky has a majority of white working-class voters, the liberal western state of Oregon has a highly educated white population.
Despite Clinton's margin of 65 per cent to 30 per cent in Kentucky, Obama got enough delegates from the state to roll over the 50 per cent mark of the pledged delegates, crossing a symbolic milestone and coming within the sight of making history by becoming the first black to contest the US presidential election.
Now it is up to the 800 superdelegates or elected officials to finally decide on the nominee.
Of the 3253 pledged delegates, Obama had 1638 plus 305 superdelegates against Clinton's 1482 pledged and 277 superdelegates after Kentucky.
Clinton won at least 37 delegates in the two states and Obama at least 23, US media reports said. All the Kentucky delegates were awarded, but there were still 43 to be given in Oregon, and Obama is expected to get a majority of them.
After Tuesday's primaries, only three primaries remain -- Puerto Rico on June one and Montana and South Dakota on June 3 but they are not expected to change the situation much.
However, Clinton is working to seat the delegates from Florida and Michigan which could change the maths and if the states taken into reckoning, she expects to have a majority of popular vote. The delegates from the two states were disqualified after they held the primaries earlier than the party schedule.
In her victory speech, she said is going to work till the delegates from two states are seated in the convention and she is going to Florida immediately to convince the voters that she is keeping their interests in view.
"I'm more than determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot is counted," she said.
The party bosses too are worried about the non-seating of the two states as it could adversely impact on the November elections if majority of democratic voters decided not to vote or vote for John McCain and are meeting towards the end of this month to sort out the issue.
Though in unassailable position, Obama did not declare victory but said they are in sight of it. But he went to Iowa to celebrate victory in Oregon. Iowa was the first State where had scored a major victory on January 3.
"We have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people and you have put us within the reach of the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America," he told a cheering audience.
Not recognising that Obama has unassailable lead, Clinton said she is going to make her case until there is a nominee and added amidst cheers "whoever she maybe."
"We have to select a nominee who is best positioned to win in November and someone who is best prepared to address the enormous challenges in these difficult times," she told supporters in Louisville.
Indirectly acknowledging that he would need Clinton's support even if he emerges as the nominee, Obama sought to reach out to her.
"Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and your daughters will come of age, and for that we are grateful to her," Obama said.
Exit surveys showed that Clinton beat Obama across all age groups, income groups and education levels in Kentucky, CNN reported.
Eighty-nine per cent of voters in Kentucky were white, according to the exit polls. Among them, Clinton won 72-22 per cent. Nine per cent of the voters were African-American and they overwhelmingly broke for Obama, 87-7 per cent, the television network said. That, analysts point out, shows deep racial divisions among the voters.
In Oregon, Obama was holding a lead of 60-40 per cent.
He, meanwhile, took on presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, saying he would leave it up to the Arizona Senator "to explain whether his policies and positions represent long-held convictions or Washington calculations, but the one thing they don't represent is change."
Countering quickly, the McCain campaign said Obama's "naive plans for unconditional summits with rogue leaders and support for big tax hikes on hardworking families expose his bad judgment".
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