May 20, 2008 8:16 pm US/Pacific
Obama Wins Oregon, Reaches Delegate Milestone
Clinton Wins Kentucky By 35 Points; CBS News Estimates Obama Has Won Majority Of Pledged Delegates
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CBS) ―
Barack Obama stepped to the brink of victory in the Democratic presidential race Tuesday night, defeating Hillary Clinton in the Oregon primary and moving within 100 delegates of the total he needs to claim the prize at the party convention this summer.
Obama is also guaranteed enough delegates from Oregon to be able to claim the majority of all pledged delegates to be elected in primaries and caucuses, reports CBS News. That total does not include Michigan or Florida.
With all precincts reporting in Kentucky, Clinton leads Obama 65 percent to 30 percent.
In Kentucky, CBS News reports Clinton will win 35 delegates and Obama will win 14, with 1 left to be allocated. In Oregon, Obama will win 24, Clinton will win 16 and there are 12 unallocated.
According to latest CBS News count, Obama now has a total of 1,949 delegates, which leaves him 100 away from the 2,026 needed to capture the nomination. The former first lady has 1,767.
In pledged delegates, not including Democratic superdelegates, Obama has 1,644 pledged delegates to Clinton's 1,491.
"This continues to be a tough fight, and I have fought it the only way I know how - with determination, by never giving up and never giving in," Clinton told supporters in Kentucky.
"I have done it not because I've wanted to demonstrate my toughness," she said, "but because I believe passionately that for the sake of our country, the Democrats must take back the White House and end Republican rule. ... That's why I'm still running and that's why you're still voting," she said.
Speaking to some 6,000 supporters at an outdoor rally with the Iowa Statehouse as a backdrop, Obama declared himself "within reach" of the Democratic nomination Tuesday and celebrated in the state where his win in the opening contest of the presidential primary season helped reshape the race.
"Tonight, in the fullness of spring, with the help of those who stood up from Portland to Louisville, we have returned to Iowa with a majority of delegates elected by the American people and you have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America," he said.
Clinton and Obama also compete in Oregon on Tuesday, the latest contests in a historic Democratic presidential race moving inexorably his way. Oregon has a vote-by-mail system and ballots are due at 11 p.m. ET.
In Kentucky, Clinton will win 35 delegates and Obama will win 15. According to latest CBS News count, Obama now has a total of 1,926 delegates, which leaves him 100 away from the 2,026 needed to capture the nomination. The former first lady has 1,750.
Party officials are scheduled to meet later this month to consider how or whether to seat all or part of the states' delegates.
"This is one of the closest races for a party's nomination in modern history," Clinton told supporters celebrating her victory. "We're winning the popular vote, and I'm more determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot is counted."
Even so, she commended Obama and said whatever their differences, "we do see eye to eye when it comes to uniting our party and electing a Democratic president this fall."
Obama paid tribute to Clinton in his speech, but the tenor of his speech left little doubt that he has put the lengthy and hard fought contest against her behind him.
"The road here has been long and that is partly because we've traveled it with one of the most formidable candidates to ever run for the office," he said, speaking of the senator from New York and congratulating her on her Kentucky victory.
"No matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and your daughters will come of age, and for that we are grateful to her," Obama said. "Some may see the millions and millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence our parity is divided, but I see it as proof that we have never been more energized and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction."
CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports that Obama wants to further the impression tonight that he is the big winner without painting Clinton as the big loser. He also pointed out the significance of Tuesday's delegate milestone in an interview with CBS News.
"What it means is we've won the majority of delegates that have been assigned by voters during the primaries and caucuses," Obama said. "Hopefully we'll be able to secure the nomination in the coming weeks and then focus our attention on the real choice that the American people are going to have."
According to CBS News early exit polling, in Kentucky, eight in 10 Clinton voters said they would be dissatisfied if Obama was the Democratic nominee. Obama voters were about evenly split on whether they would be satisfied if Clinton got the nomination.
In Kentucky, just 33 percent of Clinton voters said they would back Obama in the general election if he is the Democratic nominee - 41 percent said they will vote for Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain, and another 23 percent say they won't vote. More Democrats also felt Clinton was the best candidate to beat McCain in the fall.
Oregon voters felt differently when asked about their feelings about the candidate they did not vote for, according to the exit poll. A majority of Clinton and Obama voters in the state would be satisfied if their opponent got the nomination. And 68 percent of Clinton voters say they will back Obama in the general election if he is the nominee and 80 percent of Obama voters say they will back Clinton in the general election.
Democratic voters in both states said the economy was the most important issue, with 65 percent of voters in Kentucky saying that. Voters differed, however, on whether to suspend the gas tax was a good idea. In Kentucky, 57 percent thought it would be good idea and 39 percent said it would not be. In Oregon, 63 percent said they thought it would be a bad idea and 26 percent said it would be a good idea.
Since the vote is by mail in Oregon, the exit poll was taken by telephone and completed on Sunday.
In Kentucky, Clinton won among almost all key demographic groups in the state, according to the exit polls. She won 66 percent of women and 60 percent of men. She won 79 percent of blue collar whites and more than 60 percent among those earning less than $50,000, those earning more than $50,000 and those without a college degree. She also won among those with a college degree, but by a smaller margin - 54 percent to 43 percent.
Clinton also won among voters who decided in the last week and those who decided in the last three days.
Clinton and her husband spent more than an hour Tuesday morning working the room at a diner in Louisville. They signed autographs, cuddled a baby and shook hands with diners, some of whom told the former first lady they had already voted for her.
Former President Clinton dismissed Obama's inevitable claim on pledged delegates.
"There won't be tonight, unless you decapitate Michigan and Florida, which violates our values and is dumb politics," Mr. Clinton said.
"I'm going to work hard for you," she replied to one woman who volunteered she'd voted for Clinton.
Oregon, where Obama invested his time and drew a crowd estimated by police at 75,000 over the weekend, had 52 delegates at stake. The state also had the distinction of staging the only contest without a designated polling day. Instead, under a vote-by-mail system, election officials tallied all ballots received by 11 p.m. on primary day.
The only primaries remaining are Puerto Rico, on June 1, followed two days later by South Dakota and Montana.
Increasingly, Obama has been concentrating his campaign McCain, rather than on Clinton.
The former first lady has jettisoned the sharp attacks against Obama that characterized the race only a few weeks ago, although she bristled on Monday at his decision to focus on the fall campaign. "You can declare yourself anything, but if you don't have the votes, it doesn't matter," she said in a satellite interview with an Oregon television station.
Even so, there was no shortage of signs that the closest Democratic nominating campaign in a generation was reaching its final stages after drawing more than 33 million voters to the polls and shattering numerous turnout records along the way.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle, a key Obama adviser, said now is the time for Democrats to coalesce behind Obama in order to defeat McCain.
"We want to begin the process of bringing this party together, and I think that over the last few weeks we've seen indications at virtually all levels in both campaigns that there's a desire to do that," Daschle told CBS News' "The Early Show" Tuesday morning. "That doesn't mean we're going to do it tomorrow or the next day, but clearly there is a desire to unify. We know that the differences between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton pale by comparison [to] the differences that we now see between Barack Obama and John McCain."
As recently as May 6, Obama trailed Clinton among superdelegates, officeholders and party leaders who will attend the national convention by virtue of their positions.
But in the days following his convincing victory in the North Carolina primary and his narrow defeat in Indiana, Obama has gained the support of dozens of superdelegates and taken the lead in that category. Clinton has gained far fewer over that period.
Obama also has picked up the endorsement of former Sen. John Edwards, who dropped out of the race in the early going; two labor unions, and NARAL Pro-Choice America. The abortion rights advocacy organization has supported Clinton throughout her political career.
Fundraisers for the two campaigns have held quiet discussions on working together in the fall campaign.
Additionally, Obama's top strategist, David Axelrod, disclosed he had contacted Clinton's former campaign manager about joining forces for the general election. Patti Solis Doyle confirmed what she called informal conversations about how she might help the Illinois senator if, as expected, he secures the presidential nomination.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
