Clinton to concede to Obama in Democratic nomination race

HILLARY Clinton will concede that Barack Obama will win the Democratic Party's nomination and become the first black presidential nominee of a major US party, campaign aides said today.

The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her campaign in a speech in New York City tonight after the primary elections in South Dakota and Montana.

But to all intents and purposes, the campaign, and one of the closest and most expensive primary seasons in memory, is over, two senior officials with the Clinton campaign said.

Mrs Clinton made the strategic decision not to formally end her campaign in a bid to give her leverage to negotiate with Mr Obama on various matters, including a possible vice presidential nomination.

The aides said the 60-year-old New York senator also wanted to press Mr Obama on issues he should focus on in November's general election campaign, such as health care.

Universal health care, Mrs Clinton's signature issue as first lady in the 1990s, was a point of dispute between the two rivals during their epic nomination fight.

Mr Obama needs 40 delegates to win the nomination and is widely expected to make up the difference today with superdelegate support and the final votes of the primary season in South Dakota and Montana.

Once he reaches the magic number of 2,118, Mrs Clinton will acknowledge that he has secured the necessary delegates to be the nominee.

Many political pundits have speculated that the gruelling battle between the two Democrats may have damaged the party's chances of beating Republican John McCain in November's general election.

But Mr Obama has set about winning over her passionate supporters and has asked the former first lady for a meeting on her terms.

"I told her that once the dust settled I'm looking forward to meeting with her at a time and place of her choosing," he said.

"The sooner we can bring the party together, the better, so we can focus on John McCain and taking back the White House."

He added he would begin thinking about a vice presidential running mate "the day after I have gotten that last delegate needed to officially claim the nomination".

He also dismissed fears that the party would be unable to unite for the general election campaign.

"Senator Clinton has run an outstanding race, she is an outstanding public servant and she and I will be working on November," he said.

In today's primaries, Mr Obama is expected to win both South Dakota and Montana, which offer a combined total of 31 delegates.

He currently has 2,076.5 delegates, compared with Mrs Clinton's 1,917.5, according to Associated Press figures.

Mr Obama has also made up most of the ground he lost at the weekend when the national party's rules committee agreed to reinstate delegates from Michigan and Florida, which had been punished for holding their primary contests too early.

They will each be given half a vote each instead of a full vote at the convention.

An analysis of political advertising also showed the Republican and Democratic candidates have spent almost 195 million US dollars (£97 million) on television advertising so far, with the Democratic contenders paying the bulk at about 136 million US dollars (£68 million).

Mr Obama outspent all the Republicans combined by more than 17 million US dollars (£8.5 million).

In a brief statement, the Clinton campaign said Mrs Clinton "will not concede the nomination this evening".

But Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told NBC's Today show that once Mr Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, "I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee".

Many Clinton supporters who worked on the campaign in key battlegrounds said they were told to stand down, without pay, and await instructions.
Several were looking for employment elsewhere.