US Democrat Senator Barack Obama stood on the brink of history on Tuesday, within reach of becoming the country’s first black presidential nominee after a twisting, emotional and divisive battle with Senator Hillary Clinton.
As voters in the final two states, Montana and South Dakota, wrapped up the coast-to-coast Democratic nominating marathon, Clinton faced the demise of her own historic quest to be the first woman president.
The only questions remaining in the Democratic race were whether Obama would reach the winning post of 2,118 delegates by late Tuesday and whether Clinton would formally fold her campaign and endorse her fierce rival.
PHOTO: AFP
Regardless, Obama, 46, planned to train his full fire on potential general election rival Senator John McCain, with a daring foray into the same Minnesota sports arena where Republicans will crown their nominee in September.
Clinton was meanwhile headed back to her home state in New York, prompting speculation she would abandon her campaign, which has garnered nearly 17 million votes, at a “celebration” event in Manhattan on Tuesday night.
Obama, who has scaled the heights of US politics after just three years in the Senate, already had an eye on healing his party after a nominating duel that cleaved it down the middle.
He divulged some of the content of his congratulatory telephone call to the former first lady after her thumping win in the Puerto Rico primary on Sunday, which boosted her morale but could not dent his control of the race.
“I emphasized to her what an extraordinary race that she’s run and said that there aren’t too many people who understand exactly how hard she’s been working — I’m one of them,” Obama told reporters in Michigan.
He said he told his 60-year-old rival that “once the dust settled” he was ready to meet her at a time and place of her choosing.
Conflicting signals escaped the Clinton camp on Monday, with some reports saying advance workers who set up campaign events would not be needed after Tuesday and that staff had been told to file expense reports.
Former president Bill Clinton perhaps foreshadowed his departure from this campaign trail, after two White House terms and his wife’s grueling campaign, with a valedictory tone in South Dakota.
“I want to say also that this may be the last day I’m ever involved in a campaign of this kind,” he said. “I thought I was out of politics, till Hillary decided to run. But it has been one of the greatest honors of my life to be able to go around and campaign for her for president.”
But aides traveling with Clinton played down reports that the former first lady would exit the race on Tuesday, even as others pointed to a conference between Clinton and top advisors at her New York home.
At a rally in South Dakota, she herself said she would focus on winning over superdelegates, top party officials who can vote how they like at the party’s August convention in Denver.
“Tomorrow is the last day of the primaries and the beginning of a new phase in the campaign,” Clinton was quoted as saying in the Washington Post.
After Tuesday, it was up to the superdelegates to decide on a nominee, she said.
“I will be spending the coming days making my case to those delegates,” she said.
But there were indications that nearly 200 still undeclared superdelegates were beginning to accelerate their slide towards Obama.
He picked up 4.5 superdelegate votes on Monday to Clinton’s two, while James Clyburn, an influential African-American leader and major force in Congress, was due to follow on Tuesday.
And Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, an Obama supporter, was reported as saying she had spoken to about a dozen uncommitted superdelegates and expected “a lot of movement” on Tuesday.
Obama was just 42.5 delegates short of the 2,118 now needed to capture the nomination, after a contentious deal was thrashed out on Saturday over the renegade primaries in Florida and Michigan.
A total of 31 delegates was available in Tuesday’s contests.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency on Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions. It is the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. In December last year, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April. Police said that smuggled cellphones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers,
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is to meet US President Donald Trump this week, hoping Manila’s status as a key Asian ally would secure a more favorable trade deal before the deadline on Friday next week. Marcos would be the first Southeast Asian leader to meet Trump in his second term. Trump has already struck trade deals with two of Manila’s regional partners, Vietnam and Indonesia, driving tough bargains in trade talks even with close allies that Washington needs to keep onside in its strategic rivalry with China. “I expect our discussions to focus on security and defense, of course, but also
RSS