Obama almost the nominee now
Tonight with the Oregon and Kentucky primaries, Obama should win an absolute majority of the elected delegates. Considering that he now leads among super delegates and in the popular vote, this shows just how close Obama is to being officially confirmed as the nominee.
Obama will be in Iowa this evening which is both the state where he proved that this presidential bid by a first-term senator was for real and a state that the Republicans won by only the slimmest of margins in 2004. But he won’t be declaring victory. His team have concluded that this might unduly irritate Senator Clinton and her supporters.
Hillary will almost certainly win the Kentucky primary by a fairly commanding margin while Obama is expected to take Oregon fairly comfortably. Hillary needs to win Kentucky by a huge margin and run Obama close in Oregon to quiet those who will call on her to drop out now that it is clear Obama has won the majority of pledged delegates. It does, though, seem that Hillary is set on going through the whole process. Her toned down rhetoric on the campaign trail since March sixth, though, suggests that she will not be launching many attacks on Obama between now and June third.