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DES MOINES, Iowa: Barack Obama claimed a new
milestone in his White House quest and declared the Democratic
nomination nearly within his grasp after splitting his latest
primary battles with Hillary Clinton.
Thumped Tuesday by Clinton in the
southern state of Kentucky, Obama won the northwestern state of
Oregon handily to come within a mere 75 delegates of the 2,025
needed to win the party nod.
Obama, seeking to become the
first black US president, basked in an initial moral victory as he
sewed up a majority of “pledged” delegates elected in a bruising
run of coast-to-coast nominating contests.
“You have put us within reach
of the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of
America,” the Illinois senator, 46, told some 7,000 cheering
supporters who roared back, “Obama ’08.”
Clinton’s chances of depriving
Obama of his prize rested on a wholesale defection of unelected
superdelegates, nearly 800 top party officials who can vote how they
like at the party’s August convention.
But the former first lady and
current New York senator, 60, vowed anew not to give up her dream of
becoming America’s first female president until after the closely
fought Democratic primary season ends on June 3.
“It’s not just Kentucky
bluegrass that’s music to my ears. It’s the sound of your
overwhelming vote of confidence even in the face of some pretty
tough odds,” she told raucous supporters in Louisville, Kentucky.
“I’m going to keep making our case until we have a nominee,”
Clinton said.
Obama now leads Clinton by 182
delegates, 1,951 to 1,769, according to independent website
RealClearPolitics.
--AFP
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