Obama Very Close to Democratic Bid

Senator Barack Obama has emerged as the clear leader in the Democratic race for the nomination and the strongest candidate to beat Republican Senator John McCain in November at the polls.

Obama was predicted to be within 60 of the 2026 delegates when the polls closed in Kentucky and Oregon on Tuesday evening. He currently has 1956 delegates including super-delegates, and Clinton currently has only 1776 delegates and super-delegates, according to the latest tally published by AP.

Undaunted by the results that had Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton winning Kentucky and choosing to instead focus on his victory in Oregon’s polling results, Senator Barack Obama returned to Iowa—the state where he began his string of victories and held a rally in Des Moines, Iowa to celebrate the results thus far. His campaign office issued the following excerpts of his Tuesday night victory speech.

“"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, The polls are closed in Kentucky and votes are being counted in Oregon, and it's clear that tonight we have reached a major milestone on this journey.”

“We have won an absolute majority of all the delegates chosen by the people in this Democratic primary process.
From the beginning, this journey wasn't about me or the other candidates. It was about a simple choice -- will we continue down the same road with the same leadership that has failed us for so long, or will we take a different path?
Too many of us have been disappointed by politics and politicians more times than you can count. We've seen promises broken and good ideas drowned in a sea of influence, point-scoring, and petty bickering that has consumed Washington. Yet, in spite of all the doubt and disappointment -- or perhaps because of it -- people have stood for change.”

“Unfortunately, our opponents in the other party continue to embrace yesterday's policies and they will continue to employ yesterday's tactics -- they will try to change the subject, and they will play on fears and divisions to distract us from what matters to you and your future. But those tactics will not work in this election.
They won't work because you won't let them.
Not this time. Not this year.
We still have work to do to in the remaining states, where we will compete for every delegate available.
But tonight, I want to thank you for everything you have done to take us this far -- farther than anyone predicted, expected, or even believed possible.
And I want to remind you that you will make all the difference in the epic challenge ahead.”