Obama Clinches Nomination

Sen. Barack Obama received enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party Tuesday night. The voters of South Dakota and Montana moved him across the finish line of the 2,118 delegates needed to nominate, even though dozens of superdelegates endorsed Obama as polls closed in those two states.

He defeated Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton after 16 months of grueling campaigning, including five months of bitter primary and caucus contests. Obama will be the first African American to head a major-party ticket.

Obama gave his victory speech from St. Paul, Minnesota--the site of the Republican National Convention that will take place in September. And let me tell you, that was no coincidence.

He acknowledged that he has a lot of work ahead of him (like that isn't the understatement of the century), and said, "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...Because of you, tonight I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States of America."

I want to take a minute and reflect on the monstrous upset that Obama has achieved. He--albeit narrowly--defeated a candidate who represented the most powerful family in Democratic politics, and the former first lady of a president that remains popular among Democrats.

Clinton was the pseudo-incumbent coming into this race, and was seen as the "inevitable" nominee of the party. In an interview with CBS's Katie Couric before the Iowa caucuses, Clinton refused to even entertain the idea that she would not win the nomination. This is absolutely the biggest upset in recent American political history.

Last night, Clinton did not drop out of the race, even though it is virtually impossible for her to capture the nomination (she would need an act of God). Last night in her speech in New York City, she said, "This has been a long campaign, and I will be making no decisions tonight."

She is likely staying in to get some leverage in either her hunt for the vice presidency or to get Obama do adopt her health care policy or something. My guess is the vice presidency.

Tuesday afternoon, she told supporters that she would be open being his vice presidential nominee, further raising questions about her intentions in staying in the race.

She will likely work out a deal with the Obama campaign before she drops out and endorses him.

Even though I still think that Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia is the most practical vice presidential pick for Obama, having Clinton on the ticket might be the smarter thing to do at this point, to unite the party and exploit both of their strengths together on the same ticket.