Obama Has Delegates To Become Nominee

when the media write about obama as the "first black candidate" it surprises me because i never think of him in that way. of course, i know all too well, that it's first and foremost on people's minds, both in a good way and a bad way.

i have always thought of him as super duper obama.

but now that he's won-- though it's not official until the lady in the pantsuit sings-- i guess there will be a lot of attention being paid to his blackness because it is an historical moment, indeed, and it's a cause for big celebration. but beyond his color, i have a lot of faith that obama, if elected, or shall i say when elected, will be one of the best presidents ever.

ap: Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, the Associated Press reported, citing its tally of convention delegates. He would become the first black candidate ever to lead a major U.S. party into a fall campaign for the White House.

NBC News has been maintaining its own tally of public commitments, which stood at Obama being 29 delegates short of the 2,118 needed.

hillary's still holding out.

ap: After the report, her campaign promptly issued a statement saying, "Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening."

But the statement did not say Clinton wouldn't acknowledge Obama's delegate count, a move that would effectively end her bid to be the nation's first female president.

The AP report, which cited two campaign sources, said the former first lady would stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City, but that for all intents and purposes the campaign was over.

Harold Ickes, a top campaign official, said that Clinton would not drop out of the race. Asked on MSNBC what she would say if, after primaries Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota, Obama had enough delegates to clinch the nomination, he replied: "She will say what she will say when she says it."

obama starts out with a lead over mccain.