Obama clinches nomination, turns to face McCain
June 4, 2008
Steven Thomma - McClatchy NewspapersIssue date: 5/29/08 Section: Real News
WASHINGTON _ Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, seizing a place in American history on the final day of a grueling five-month primary that forced him to battle rival Hillary Clinton to the very end.
The 46-year-old senator from Illinois becomes the first African-American ever to win a major political party presidential nomination and lead it into a general election.
He'll face Republican Sen. John McCain, 71, of Arizona, at a time when Americans are anxious about the economy at home and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their campaigns are certain to offer very different visions. Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start; McCain, a heroic former prisoner of war, is the steady supporter of invading Iraq who pushed for more troops, not fewer, when the long conflict looked increasingly dire. McCain embraces the Bush administration's economic policies favoring private-sector leadership and low taxes, while Obama favors higher taxes on the wealthy, lower taxes on the middle class and more government intervention in economic affairs.
Clinton, the New York senator who kept her long-shot hopes alive for months with late primary wins, appeared to bow to the inevitable, telling supporters in a conference call Tuesday that she'd be willing to accept the number two spot on a ticket with Obama if it were offered.
Clinton saluted Obama in broad terms but refused to concede the nomination, even as she vowed to help unite the party for victory in November.
"It has been an honor to contest these primaries with him just as it is an honor to call him my friend. Tonight, I would like all of us to take a moment to recognize him and all of his supporters for all they have accomplished," she told supporters in New York.
Turning to her own plans, she said she would consult with party leaders over coming days. "This has been a long campaign and I will be making no decisions tonight," she said.
Obama wrapped up a majority of delegates needed to win the nomination at the party's August convention in Denver as a tide of unelected super delegates came out for him throughout the day Tuesday.
The 46-year-old senator from Illinois becomes the first African-American ever to win a major political party presidential nomination and lead it into a general election.
He'll face Republican Sen. John McCain, 71, of Arizona, at a time when Americans are anxious about the economy at home and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their campaigns are certain to offer very different visions. Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start; McCain, a heroic former prisoner of war, is the steady supporter of invading Iraq who pushed for more troops, not fewer, when the long conflict looked increasingly dire. McCain embraces the Bush administration's economic policies favoring private-sector leadership and low taxes, while Obama favors higher taxes on the wealthy, lower taxes on the middle class and more government intervention in economic affairs.
Clinton, the New York senator who kept her long-shot hopes alive for months with late primary wins, appeared to bow to the inevitable, telling supporters in a conference call Tuesday that she'd be willing to accept the number two spot on a ticket with Obama if it were offered.
Clinton saluted Obama in broad terms but refused to concede the nomination, even as she vowed to help unite the party for victory in November.
"It has been an honor to contest these primaries with him just as it is an honor to call him my friend. Tonight, I would like all of us to take a moment to recognize him and all of his supporters for all they have accomplished," she told supporters in New York.
Turning to her own plans, she said she would consult with party leaders over coming days. "This has been a long campaign and I will be making no decisions tonight," she said.
Obama wrapped up a majority of delegates needed to win the nomination at the party's August convention in Denver as a tide of unelected super delegates came out for him throughout the day Tuesday.
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