Obama within reach of winning nomination

Barack Obama was at the brink of victory in the Democratic presidential race, moving within 70 delegates of the total he needs to claim the hard-fought nomination after defeating Hillary Clinton in the Oregon primary.

Clinton crushed Obama earlier in Kentucky, but it was a victory with scant political value in a race moving in Obama's direction. She vowed to stay in the race until the final primary on June 3, even as she signalled a need for Democratic unity before the November general election.

Obama, who is seeking to become the first black US president, said the night's contests gave him a majority of the delegates elected in all 56 Democratic primaries and caucuses combined.

They are distinct from the nearly 800 superdelegates, party leaders and elected officials who are free to vote for any candidate and who hold the balance of power at the national convention this August in Denver.

Courting voters

Yesterday, Obama and Clinton were courting voters in Florida, a state so far shut out of their Democratic presidential race.

Clinton is pressing to have votes counted from a primary that was held in defiance of party rules, just as she wants Michigan's renegade primary to count.

Obama planned to spend several days in Florida, which will be a prime battleground in the fall campaign against Republican John McCain.

In the Tuesday primaries, Clinton won at least 56 delegates in the two states and Obama won at least 43, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. All the Kentucky delegates were awarded, but there were still four to be allocated in Oregon.

Obama had 1,960 delegates overall, out of 2,026 needed for the nomination. Clinton had 1,779 in their marathon race that has shattered voter turnout records in state after state.

Obama has won 1,649.5 pledged delegates in the primaries and caucuses, surpassing the 1,627 needed to claim a majority.

"You have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination," he told supporters in Iowa, the overwhelmingly white state that launched him, a black, first-term senator from Illinois, on his improbable path to victory last January.

He lavished praise on Clinton, but accused McCain of a lobbyist-run campaign as he turned his attention to the general election.

Clinton vowed to hold on through early June, telling supporters in Louisville, "I'm more determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot is counted."

Party unity

But in a fresh sign that their race was coming to an end, Clinton pledged a united party. "While we continue to go toe-to-toe for this nomination, we do see eye-to-eye when it comes to uniting our party to elect a Democratic president this fall," said Clinton, whose supporters Obama will need if he is to end eight years of Republican rule in the White House.

Obama tried to endear himself to Clinton's supporters by praising her and avoiding looking like he is trying to push her out of the race.

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