Barack Obama Wins Nomination

By Kevin Robinson in News on Jun 4, 2008 1:00PM

With the last primaries in this seemingly endless Democratic primary season finally over, Barack Obama took the stage in St. Paul MN to address supporters. "Tonight I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States," Obama declared. Speaking to supporters in New York, Hillary Clinton congratulated Obama, while leaving the end of the nomination battle open. "Now the question is where do we go from here," Clinton said. “You know, I understand that a lot of people are asking, what does Hillary want? What does she want?” Clinton asked rhetorically, before answering “I want the nearly 18 million Americans who voted for me to be respected, to be heard and no longer to be invisible.”

While a veritable slew of superdelegates had announced their support for Obama during the day, Clinton left the means of her withdrawal (if at all) open. In a conference call to New York lawmakers on Tuesday, Clinton said that she is open to being Obama's runningmate in the fall if it will help Democrats win. "I deserve some time to get this right," she said Tuesday, noting that the delegate math wasn't there for her to overtake Obama. New York City Congressman Jose Serrano told the AP that was "just what I was hoping to hear. ... Of course she was interested in being president, but she's just as interested in making sure Democrats get elected in November."

What happens next, and how it plays out is anyone's guess. Clinton's political strategist Harold Ickes suggested at this weekend's Democratic Party Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting that Clinton could take her fight to the convention's Credentialing Committee, fighting to get both the Michigan and Florida delegations fully seated in Denver. That would change the delegate math, and could strengthen her position in voting on the convention floor. On the other hand, the tone of her campaign in recent days suggests that she may formally quit the race soon, throwing her support to Barack Obama. With the party on the verge of tearing itself apart over the nomination, however, Clinton will have to do more than make an endorsement speech to heal the electorate. She's going to have to actively campaign to her base, making the case that her coalition will be part of an Obama administration, and that she's behind him 100 percent.

Image via barackobamadotcom