By Kristin Jensen and Kim Chipman
June 3 (Bloomberg) -- mouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Barack+Obama&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date 
:d1">Barack Obama has won enough delegates
to clinch the Democratic nomination for president based on
projections from the South Dakota primary and pledges of party
superdelegates, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC reported.
While Clinton was projected to win in South Dakota, according to Fox, Obama gained a big enough portion of the state's 15 pledged delegates to reach the threshold for the nomination, helped by a flurry of endorsements today from party leaders.
He is poised to become the first black candidate to lead a major U.S. party into the November general election.
In a speech he's scheduled to give tonight in Minnesota, Obama will declare himself the presumptive nominee and praise Clinton as an inspiration to millions of Americans.
``Tonight we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another,'' Obama will say, according to a text released by his campaign. ``Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.''
With 14 percent of precincts reporting, Clinton was leading in South Dakota with 56 percent of the vote to Obama's 46 percent. Polls in Montana, which is holding the final primary in the Democratic race, remained open. Obama was favored to win a majority of that state's 16 pledged delegates.
Clinton Address
Clinton, a New York senator, former first lady, and the first woman to seriously contend for the presidency, was set to acknowledge Obama's achievement in an address tonight in New York. She told congressional colleagues in a conference call earlier today that she is ``open'' to accepting the vice presidential nomination and that she would take some time to decide how to end her bid.
Obama will say he is a better candidate for having competed against Clinton.
``Senator mouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Hillary+Clinton&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date :d1">Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign
not just because she's a woman who has done what no woman has
done before, but because she's a leader who inspires millions of
Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to
the causes that brought us here tonight,'' he will say,
according to the speech text.
Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator mouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=John%0AMcCain&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date :d1">John
McCain of Arizona, already have been sparring over Iraq,
national security, the economy and other issues that will be at
the forefront in the general election.
In a speech tonight in New Orleans, McCain said he expected Obama to be a ``formidable'' opponent.
To contact the reporters on this story:
mouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kristin+Jensen&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date :d1">Kristin Jensen in Washington at
mouseover="return escape( popwSendEmail( this ))" href="mailto:kjensen@bloomberg.net">kjensen@bloomberg.net;
mouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))" href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kim+Chipman&site=wnews&client=wnews&proxystylesheet=wnews&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&filter=p&getfields=wnnis&sort=date :d1">Kim Chipman in Washington at
mouseover="return escape( popwSendEmail( this ))" href="mailto:kchipman@bloomberg.net">kchipman@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: June 3, 2008 21:30 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601073&sid=aKKpBxzVdHdc&refer=election
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