Just a quick hit here. Not that the result is in doubt, but making the claim for the nomination should really ratchet up the pressure on Sen. Clinton, and allow him to definitively pivot to the General election.
McClatchy is reporting that Obama will proclaim himself the nominee after the final primaries on Tuesday.
Barack Obama is preparing to claim victory in the Democratic presidential nominating contest after next Tuesday's final primaries in Montana and South Dakota.
In a question and answer session Wednesday night with reporters on his campaign plane between Denver and Chicago, the Illinois senator dismissed the idea that rival Hillary Clinton's stated willingness to take her fight for the nomination to the party convention in late August would matter.
"When Dukakis won the nomination, you know, Jesse (Jackson) was still running until the convention," Obama said. "When Bill Clinton was running, Jerry Brown was still technically in it. As far as I can tell, this is fairly standard fare."
Shorter version: I am the nominee.
Sweet to see him comparing Hillary to Jerry Brown. That's a comparison that the MSM could easily pick up on.