News outlets are carefully predicting Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton will acknowledge Barack Obama has won enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination this evening, but are stopping short of forecasting a concession.
The Associated Press reported, “Officials say Clinton will acknowledge Tuesday night Obama has the delegates for the nomination,” Tuesday morning, the last day of the long Democratic primary season.
“The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City,” wrote Associated Press reporter Beth Fouhy who has been covering Clinton’s presidential campaign since it began. “She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, the two senior officials said, the campaign is over.”
(It’s worth nothing former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney also “suspended” his campaign when he decided to quit pursuing the Republican nomination for president.)
Senior campaign adviser Terry McAuliffe contests the AP is “100 percent reporting incorrectly” Longtime Clinton strategist Harold Ickes strongly denies the validity of the story as well.
Regardless of what her advisers say, the nomination momentum is clearly in Obama’s favor. Different news outlets report Obama only needs between 36 and 42 more delegates to become the nominee. Two primaries will be held in Montana and South Dakota, where 31 delegates are at stake combined Tuesday. His staff predicts he will gain 15 delegates from those contests. After the primaries are over it will be up to the party’s remaining uncommitted delegates to push him over the edge.
Clinton was originally scheduled to deliver a speech in South Dakota at the close of the state’s primary, but abruptly changed her schedule to give a post-primary speech from her home state. Her senior advisers said the event was to be a “celebration” but members of her campaign’s “advance team” were alerted they would be dismissed from the campaign that evening.
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