WASHINGTON - Barack Obama was poised last night to claim victory in the Democratic presidential race, defeating Hillary Clinton after a marathon primary campaign and becoming the first black nominee for the White House in American history.
With polls set to close yesterday evening in Montana and South Dakota, the Illinois Senator stood just nine delegates shy of reaching the 2,118 delegates needed to become the Democrats’ presumptive nominee.
Mr. Obama was expected to easily surpass the Democrats’ magic number after polls closed in the two western states, where he was expected to win at least half of the 31 pledged delegates up for grabs.
Mr. Obama edged to the threshold of victory after a chaotic last day of voting and backroom political dealing dominated by wild speculation about when Ms. Clinton would end her campaign, and what she wanted as a consolation prize.
In a private conference call with Democratic lawmakers from New York, Ms. Clinton said she would be “open to” becoming Mr. Obama’s vice-presidential running mate if it would help the Illinois Senator win the upcoming general election campaign. “They have to be together in some capacity,” said Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe.
Ms. Clinton’s campaign insisted the former first lady would not admit defeat during a speech last night in her home state of New York. Instead, several Clinton aides said the New York Senator wanted to exit the race on her own terms after assessing her political options.
Still, there was confusion even within the Clinton camp about how the race would conclude.
“If Senator Obama gets the number, I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee,” Mr. Mc-Auliffe said. Just minutes later, Ms. Clinton’s campaign issued a terse statement denying she would formally concede.
One senior strategist, Harold Ickes, said Ms. Clinton may suspend her campaign and acknowledge Mr. Obama as the likely nominee, but still challenge the distribution of disputed delegates from Michigan.

nationalpost.com