Clinton Beats Obama in Puerto Rico

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Primary Campaigns Come to a Close

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) clinches enough pledged delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, as polls closed in the last state primary elections in South Dakota and Montana, June 3, 2008.

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Despite his loss in Puerto Rico, he was still on track to gain at least 14 delegates, which would bring him within 50 of the 2,118 needed for the nomination, according to the AP. Aides said Obama could lock up the nomination as early as this week.

Speaking to supporters at the Mitchell, S.D., Corn Palace, Obama said he called Clinton to congratulate her for her victory in Puerto Rico. Obama described Clinton as a "great asset when we go into November" and insisted that the differences between the two Democrats was nothing when compared to his differences with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Clinton launched new ads in South Dakota and Montana on Sunday asserting that she is the popular vote leader, securing more votes than any previous primary candidate. "Some say there isn't a single reason for Hillary to be the Democratic nominee," says the ad's narrator. "They're right. There are over 17 million of them."

Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, responded by noting that "both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have gotten more votes than any presidential campaign in primary history", adding: "We are, however, ahead in the popular vote now and will be ahead when all of the votes are counted Tuesday."

According to Real Clear Politics, Obama actually has 166,186 vote lead over Clinton in the popular vote -- 17,267,658 to 17,101,472. If Michigan's primary is included, where Clinton received 328,307 votes and Obama none due to the fact he removed his name from the ballot, Clinton takes a 162,123 vote lead.

The popular vote debate is largely a semantic and symbolic one at this point, however, as the nominee for the party is selected by delegates and Obama appears to be all-but-certain to reach the magic number of 2,118 sometime soon after Tuesday's primaries in South Dakota and Montana.