Obama nets wins in Oregon and pledged delegate count

By Kimberly Chin
Assistant News Editor

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) had coasted two wins for the night: Oregon's primary, news sources projected, and a majority of the pledged delegates of the nomination. Obama had 51 delegates up for grabs from Kentucky, but Clinton won the state with a more than 30 point lead.

Before Tuesday, Obama needed only 17 delegates to gain the majority, according to The Associated Press.

David Axelrod, Obama's lead campaign strategist, called Obama's pledged delegate majority gain an "important milestone" in the campaign and in the path leading to the Democratic nomination.

The polls in Oregon closed at 11 p.m. EST, and it was projected that Obama won the Beaver state by a slim margin. At 65 percent of precincts reporting, the trend in the polls had kept a steady distance from about 58 percent for Obama and 41 percent for Clinton.

Although Obama leads Clinton in pledged and superdelegates, states won and the popular vote, he did not dismiss her during a speech on Tuesday.

“No matter how this primary ends," Obama said, "Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and your daughters will come of age.”

Clinton's chances for winning the nomination are slim and it would take a share of about 800 superdelegates to get the edge needed to beat Obama, according to CNN.

Also the claim by her campaign that she has the most popular votes can fall out, if the Democratic National Committee chooses not to count Florida and Michigan, two states who went against the rules of the committee and lost their delegates as a result. Clinton's lead in the popular vote count would also exclude caucus votes, which Obama has fared well in.

“From the very beginning, you knew that this journey wasn’t about me or any of the other candidates in this race,” Obama told supporters on Tuesday when he returned to Iowa, the first in the nation caucus state that he had won of his presidential nomination campaign.

“It’s about whether this country — at this defining moment — will continue down the same road that has failed us for so long or whether we will seize this opportunity to take a different path: to forge a different future for the country we love.”

Clinton wins Kentucky while Obama secures majority

Obama declares pledged delegate majority in his speech to supporters in Des Moines, Iowa.
(Video provided by MSNBC.com)

By Kimberly Chin
Assistant News Editor

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) decisively won the Kentucky primary, with a lopsided lead over her rival Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), although it was not enough to block Obama from picking up a majority of the Democratic Party’s pledged delegates, which could be telling of the eventual nominee.

The Associated Press reported that Obama only needs 17 delegates coming out of Tuesday’s primaries, which he easily carried, despite Clinton’s victory of 65 percent compared to Obama’s 29 percent in the southern state.

"To say that we have the majority of the core of the delegates that are going to be making the decisions at the convention and selecting our nominee, that's a critical milestone," former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle said, who is also an Obama campaign co-chairman.

Although it is highly unlikely that Clinton will be able to capture the delegates, she is betting on winning the popular vote, an aspect of the nomination process that her campaign has claimed to lead.

“This is one of the closest races for a party’s nomination in modern history,” Clinton told her supporters, after many networks called her victory early in the night. “We’re winning the popular vote, and I’m more determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot is counted.”

Clinton’s victory in the Blue Grass state signifies a continual battle, which for the past few months has led media critics and even members of her own party to ask her to step down for the sake of a unified party come the general election in November. Ignoring the calls, Clinton has been able to pick up three more states in the last week, which includes Kentucky.

She holds most of the crucial "big" Democratic-leaning states needed to win in the Fall.

Obama addressed his supporters in Iowa, one of the crucial early states he had won, as the results came in from Kentucky.

“Senator Clinton has run a magnificent race, and she is still working hard, as am I, for all of these last primary contests,” Obama said, acknowledging that he has not “presumptuously” claimed the nomination yet, as Clinton staffers contend, and is expecting to continue the struggle with Clinton until the end of the race in June.

"Right now, more people have voted for me than have voted for my opponent," Clinton said. "More people have voted for me than for anybody ever running for president before. So we have a very close contest."

Primary polls are still open in Oregon, which has a unique mail-in primary. The results will come in later in this evening.

Former rival John Edwards endorses Obama

Former presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at a rally in Michigan, after saying for months he would not choose a candidate. (Video courtesy Youtube.com.)

By Mike Manzoni
Staff Writer

In the months after withdrawing his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, John Edwards said he was keeping his pick for his party's presidential candidate to himself, but at a campaign rally Wednesday in Grand Rapids, MI, that all changed when Edwards stepped on stage with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and offered his endorsement.

"The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," Edwards told the crowd. "There is one man who knows in his heart there is time to create one America, not two ... and that man is Barack Obama."

He also congratulated Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign for the nomination.

"What she has shown ... is strength and character, and what drives her is something that every single one of us can and should appreciate," Edwards said.

"She is a woman who, in my judgment, is made of steel, and she's a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done."

Obama spoke at the event, thanking Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth.

"I am so grateful ... for John Edwards to come to Michigan tonight," he sad. "I'm grateful for his support ... but more importantly, I want to thank John for everything that he has already done to make us one America," Obama said.

The late endorsement immediately caused the chairman of the Republican National Committee to question the effectiveness of the endorsement.

Republican National Committee Chairman Robert Duncan released a statement asking, "Why didn't Edwards endorse sooner?"

After coming in third place in most early contests, Edwards withdrew from the race on Jan. 30.

Clinton wins big in W.Va., vows to 'carry on'

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) declares victory in West Virginia. (Video provided by MSNBC.com.)

By Samuel Rubenfeld
Senior News Editor

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) won the West Virginia party by a wide margin, holding a more than two-to-one lead with 54 percent of precincts reporting, by winning white and lower-income voters who have eluded Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) at times during the primary season.

Ninety-five percent of voters were white, according to exit polls. Twenty-two percent of voters said race was an important factor, and 81 percent of those voters came to the polls for Clinton.

Clinton's win nets her 10 delegates, according to NBC News, but the win does not greatly blunt Obama's momentum for the Democratic nomination, because he still holds a significant lead in states won, pledged delegates, popular vote and superdelegates.

The victory could, however, raise questions about Obama's ability to win the support of white, working-class voters, a potential weak spot the Clinton campaign has stressed recently.

“I’m more determined than ever to carry on this campaign until everyone has the chance to make their voices heard,” Clinton said at a victory rally in Charleston, W.Va.

She said she will carry on her campaign through June 3, when South Dakota holds the final primary in the Democratic nominating contests.

Obama conceded late Tuesday afternoon at a campaign event in Missouri, where he said he still had work to do to earn the nomination.

"We haven’t resolved this nomination," he said. "It would be presumptuous of me to pretend like I’ve already won and start talking about who my vice president’s going to be."

Clinton wins W.Va. by wide margin

By Samuel Rubenfeld
Senior News Editor

The Associated Press calls Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) the winner by a two-to-one margin based on exits as the polls close in West Virginia. Details as the votes come in.

Obama wins big in N.C.; Clinton squeaks by in Ind.

By Samuel Rubenfeld

News Editor

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) won handily in the North Carolina primary on Tuesday, defeating Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) by 14 points and negating Clinton's win in Pennsylvania on April 22.

The trajectory of the campaign changed with Obama's huge win: despite Clinton's squeaker victory in Indiana, where she won by less than 22,000 votes on Tuesday, pundits on all three cable networks called the race "over."

"I have not found an objective Democrat who thinks the race isn't over," said Tim Russert, the NBC News Washington bureau chief on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show.

More details to come in The Chronicle print edition, out tomorrow. (Link to come when posted.)

Obama wins Guam caucuses by seven votes

By Mike Manzoni
Staff Writer

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) won the Guam caucuses, declaring victory with the thinnest margin of any primary this election year.

Obama led Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) by just seven votes when the results were announced tonight.

Of the 175,000 residents of the island in the Western Pacific, about 4,500 voted.

Obama received 2,264 votes, whereas Clinton received 2,257 votes, with all 21 precincts reporting.

Guam has traditionally been ignored by candidates, but as both Clinton and Obama continue to duel for the nomination, they did not take any chances.

Neither of the Democratic candidates made any campaign appearances in the territory, but did run advertisements and appeared for interviews via satellite on local television stations.

Clinton and Obama also pitched their health care plans for Guam in long-distance interviews.

Clinton has called for Guamanians to be able to vote in the presidential election.

The New York senator has said she will appoint a senior adviser to the defense secretary to help Guamanians prepare for the arrival of 8,000 U.S. Marines who are expected to be transferred to the island from Okinawa in 2014.

Obama, in interviews prior to the vote, said his Hawaiian heritage makes him "especially sensitive," to the concerns and problems facing islanders.

Citizens of the U.S. territory are not able to vote in the general election in November, but have four pledged delegates and five superdelegates which will be sent to the National Convention in Denver in August.