“This is Our Moment” - in History
Posted June 4, 2008
By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer THANKS PAMELA!!!
Posted June 4, 2008 –Sen. Barack Obama blasted through the ultimate political glass ceiling Tuesday night, snatching enough delegates to become the first African American to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
But Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has spent the past 17 months battling with Barack in a no-holds-barred brawl for the right to represent her party against Sen. John McCain, wasn’t feeling her rival’s historic moment in the spotlight. Refusing to bow out, despite the flood of super-delegates who rushed to her opponent, Clinton told a rather large crowd of supporters at Baruch College in New York that she would not be conceding just yet.
“So to the 18 million people who voted for me and to our many other supporters out there of all ages, I want to hear from you,” she said. “I hope you’ll go to my Web site at HillaryClinton.com and share your thoughts with me and help in any way that you can.” Clinton’s campaign is $20 million in debt, but her call for folks to give their “thoughts” could mean she’s planning to continue to run and take her battle for the nomination to the floor of the Democratic convention in August.
But Obama’s no fool. Perhaps better than anyone, he realizes the level of anger and resentment out there, and he prefaced his electrifying speech by praising Clinton, a move that could eventually pay dividends in the general election. He then basted in the moment.
“Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another – a journey that will bring a new and better day to America,” he told an estimated 22,000 supporters in St. Paul, Minn. “Because of you, tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.”
In Tuesday’s primary, Obama won Montana, reeling in eight delegates to Clinton’s four delegates; Clinton won South Dakota and netted nine delegates to Obama’s six.
The latest count by The Associated Press gives Obama 2,144 delegates, including endorsements from party super-delegates; Clinton has 1,919.5.
