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Last Updated: May 11, 2008 - 3:48:28 PM |
Barack Obama readied Saturday to claim a new milestone in his drive to sew up the Democratic presidential nomination after new superdelegates pledged their support, solidifying his lead over rival Hillary Clinton.
ABC news and the New York Times both announced that for the first time, the Illinois senator has more superdelegates on his side than the former first lady, thereby bridging the final gap between him and his Democratic foe.
And while independent election analysts RealClearPolitics still had Obama two superdelegates behind -- 270, to Clinton's 272 -- the writing was on the wall.
In early February, Clinton had 90 more superdelegates -- a select group of 795 of the party elite who cast votes for whomever they choose in the nominating contest -- in her corner than Obama.
Since Obama's convincing win in North Carolina on Tuesday over rival Clinton and their photo-finish in Indiana, mounting an unassailable lead in the committed delegates from the primaries, 12 more superdelegates have swung over to his side, including seven in 24 hours.
The trickle of support is predicted to turn into a flood, with only six primaries now left in their marathon battle to carry the party's flag into the November presidential elections against Republican John McCain.
Former candidate John Edwards, who dropped out of the race in late January, stopped short of endorsing Obama on Friday, but said he has virtually wrapped up the contest ahead of the last primaries on June 3.
"Let's just assume that Barack is the nominee because it's headed in that direction," he told NBC television.
He added he thought Obama, who is on a historic quest to be the country's first black president, also had a "better chance" to beat McCain.
While the former first lady had fought a good campaign, "the problem is the numbers ," Edwards said, referring to the 2,025 delegates needed to secure the party's nomination.
Clinton, seeking to be the first woman elected US commander-in-chief, trails Obama by 163 in total delegates to the party's nominating convention in August: Obama has 1,861, and Clinton 1,698, according to RealClearPolitics.
Seven superdelegates announced their support for Obama on Friday, including a defector from Clinton's side, New Jersey Congressman Donald Payne.
In addition, Obama picked up the support of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents some 600,000 government workers, and its president John Gage, a superdelegate.
In another ominous sign for Clinton, Rasmussen Reports, a major national polling firm, halting surveys on the battle, saying "the race is over ... Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee."
Clinton has vowed no surrender and plunged straight back into campaigning before the May 13 primary in West Virginia, where she is favored in polls. On Thursday and Friday she was in Oregon, which will hold its primary along with Kentucky on May 20.
"People say to me all the time, 'Are you going to keep going?' Well, yes, of course I'm going to keep going," she told supporters in Oregon late Thursday.
"We were flying against the wind, but you know that's the story of my life. Fly against the wind, you'll get there eventually."
She also faced more pressure to bow out after making controversial remarks to USA Today newspaper Thursday about white voters not supporting Obama.
Clinton referenced polls that she said "found how Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states (Indiana and North Carolina) who had not completed college were supporting me."
The New York Times, which initially endorsed Clinton, said in an editorial Friday that "Clinton will be making a terrible mistake -- for herself, her party and for the nation -- if she continues to press her candidacy through negative campaigning with disturbing racial undertones."
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