Obama Clinches; Clinton Doesn't Concede

Welcome to a moment in history. Regardless of polical stance or party affiliation, this is a moment to sit back and marvel at.

Barack Obama is the Democratic Party nominee for President of the United States.

Tonight, the networks tally indicates he has won the delegates needed to clinch to Democratic nomination and become the first African-American to run for President on one of the major parties in the United States. Hillary Clinton still runs a close second and after a speech today chose to not concede the race just yet, saying she needed time to make a decision.

Maybe the reason for the delay in conceding is because Clinton won South Dakota but Obama won Montana. Really though I think it’s because she wants to verify the superdelegate votes. The number on that strange group of people is not 100% confirmed and more an educated guess on the part of the networks who are more interested in being the "first" then pointing out that they really don't know the exact delegate count right now. She could use the next few days to try and flip enough of those delegates to win the nomination. Unlikely but possibly something she is perusing.

Hillary Clinton has also indicated she is open to becoming Obama's running mate as his Vice President. This refusal to concede might anger him but it also puts him in a tough negotiation position. He needs her to stand down and get her supporters to support him or he simply will not win the Presidency. Right now, despite his win, she has the leverage right now and she clearly isn't afraid to use it. Why use the leverage you ask? Its simple, often the Vice President gets an uncontested run at the White House for that party, something I am sure she wants to avoid next time after this long battle.

In the end, because the press has declared it so, the race IS over. They will make sure that the undecided superdelegates go to Obama's side by sheer insistence and attacks. However, the race for VP is not over yet.

Congratulations to Senator Barack Obama for entering his name in the history books regardless of how the Presidential race ends in November.