Stories related to: Democratic presidential primaries

Barack Obama may be the big winner, but loads of other political fortunes hung in the balance this primary season. Politico breaks down the winners and losers. Winners: Claire McCaskill: Got tons of air-time and used it brilliantly for Obama Nancy Pelosi: Pulled off a nifty trick by remaining neutral, but leaving breadcrumbs leading to Obama  Ted Kennedy: Critical endorsement legitimized Obama Ed Rendell: Clinton lost, but Rendell delivered Pennsylvania and stayed on message More »

Bill Clinton’s interfering tenacity and squabbling aides killed Hillary Clinton’s chances to win the White House, the New York Times eulogizes in an obituary of the campaign that once seemed indestructible. “Hers was the campaign of destiny, a back-to-the-future effort to restore the Democratic dynasty of the 1990s that could never quite escape the last decade,” write Peter Baker and Jim Rutenberg. More »

Hillary Clinton today ended her 16-month campaign for the presidency and threw her "full support" behind Barack Obama, the New York Times reports. She urged her supporters to unite behind him. Clinton vowed to continue working on her key issues, in particular to shatter the glass ceiling for women. Next time, she said, "It will be unremarkable to think that a woman could be president. And that is truly remarkable, my friends." More »

Hillary Clinton has told supporters she will end her campaign Saturday and endorse Barack Obama, Reuters reports. A letter from the New York senator to her backers released today said she would make good on her promise to "strongly support" Obama if he won the Democratic nomination. She pledged to work for party unity as the 16-month race ends. More »

Barack Obama tonight marked the end of an "historic journey" by declaring that "I will be the Democratic nominee." The nation's first black major-party nominee praised Hillary Clinton for her own history-making campaign and for her "unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans" before turning his focus on John McCain, CNN reports. After praising McCain's service, he lashed into his war policies, linked him to President Bush, and said it's time for the US to regain its place as a world leader. "America, this is our time," he said in a rousing finish. More »

Hillary Clinton congratulated Barack Obama tonight on a hard-fought campaign but did not concede the race, MSNBC reports. "I will be making no decisions tonight," she said to raucous applause from supporters. Speaking less than an hour after the major networks declared Obama the nominee, she encouraged the "18 million" people who voted for her to go to her web site to express their views. More »

Hillary Clinton has won the South Dakota primary, CNN reports, but the victory is a hollow one: It follows news that Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination. With 99% of returns in, Clinton led 55% to 44%. Exit polls showed that 60% of Clinton supporters would vote for Obama in the fall, while 34% would either vote for McCain or sit it out. Results from Montana come later tonight to mark the official end of the primary season. More »

Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination tonight to become the first black candidate for president on a major-party ticket. Obama reached the necessary number of delegates—2,118—as the polls closed in South Dakota at 9pm EST, CNN reports. AP reported earlier today that Obama had clinched, but media outlets use different tallies. All the major networks have now called the race. More »

Memorial Day dates from the Civil War, but this week, thanks to HBO’s Recount, a different internecine conflict will be in the air: the 2000 election. The generally factual portrayal of the Florida snafu gets Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker thinking about another hairsplitting debate over vote counting. Perhaps inevitably, he zeros in on Hillary Clinton and her claims that she's winning the popular vote over Barack Obama. More »

Barack Obama said tonight that his campaign had reached a pivotal milestone by clinching a majority of the pledged delegates at stake in the Democratic primary, CNN reports. Addressing a rally in Iowa—the state that put his campaign on a winning path—Obama declared that victory is "within reach." He spoke just before learning that he had defeated Hillary Clinton in the Oregon primary. With 72% of returns in, he led 58% to 42%. More »

Hillary Clinton made clear she has no intention of dropping from the race in the wake of her resounding victory in Kentucky. She told supporters that more people have voted for her than for any candidate who's run for the Democratic nomination, CNN reports. "We've got to get this right," she said, insisting she's more electable candidate. Clinton also pressed the point that all votes—as in Michigan and Florida—must be counted. "I'm going to continue making the case until we have a nominee, whoever she may be." More »

Barack Obama showed little evidence that he's been able to make amends with white working-class voters, exit polls in Kentucky show. Whites make up about 90% of the state's electorate, and Clinton won 71% of their votes, including three-fourths of those who didn't complete college. In addition, only about 40% of working-class whites said they would vote for Obama on a national ticket; an equal number said they'd vote for John McCain, the AP reports. More »

Hillary Clinton cruised to a lopsided victory in today's Kentucky primary, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports. Clinton won 65% to 30%, a margin of victory she called an "overwhelming vote of confidence." Despite the huge win, Barack Obama picked up enough support to clinch a majority of pledged delegates in the Democratic race. More »

There’s Hillary Clinton, writes Libby Copeland in the Washington Post , and then there’s “Poor Hillary.” Though Barack Obama destroyed her “inevitability,” she continues to quixotically pursue the Democratic nomination, touting the power of “grit” against arithmetic, and moving op-ed writers, news anchors and conservative talking heads to raise another chorus of “poor Hillary”—“an attempt," Copeland notes, "at death by condescension.” More »

John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama today, calling him the one person who can bring about the "one America" that will bridge the divide between rich and poor and rebuild the nation's "moral authority." Edwards, who dropped out of the race in January, joined Obama in Michigan for the announcement, the Wall Street Journal reports. His backing could help Obama with his weak spot—working-class white voters. More »

Hillary Clinton urged her supporters to stick by her today, telling a West Virginia audience that calls for her to step down are simply "deja vu all over again," the AP reports. Clinton also told USA Today that only she can deliver the broad base of voters, including whites, necessary to beat John McCain. Her campaign chief, meanwhile, suggested Clinton would not keep the fight going until the convention in August, notes the New York Times . More »

Hillary Clinton had on her game face in West Virginia yesterday, but the crowd at the hastily arranged rally wasn't helping her keep her faltering campaign alive amid a torrent of talk that it's time for her to drop out. The crowd booed her proposal for a gas tax holiday, and greeted her statement that she'd end the Iraq war with catcalls. An Obama supporter turned on daughter Chelsea, calling out “End the dynasty!” when she introduced her mother, writes the New York Times . More »

Oregon’s primary, usually a non-event, is shaping up to get an unusual amount of attention this time around, the Oregonian reports. The state has 52 delegates at stake—huge among remaining contests—and is likely to be crucial for the Democrats in the fall as well. Says a state party official: “There’s talk that it’s going to be the last battleground state.” More »

Barack Obama tonight portrayed himself as the likely Democratic candidate and predicted the party will reunite once the primaries end, CNN reports. Analysts saw the speech as a direct appeal to superdelegates, a kickoff to the general election. After his resounding victory in North Carolina, Obama rejected the notion that the primary race has divided the party—that Clinton supporters or his supporters are so bitter they will jump ship and vote for John McCain. "I'm here to tell you tonight that I don't believe it." More »

You can thank or blame one Democrat for the rise of superdelegates and demise of the party's winner-take-all primaries—but strategist Harold Ickes, who negotiated the primary system 20 years ago, is likely too busy to hear you. He's calling up superdelegates for Hillary Clinton, and using such a nasty tongue that Time couldn't print what it overheard. More »