Obama Claims the Democratic Presidential Nomination

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Obama: 'I Will Be the Democratic Nominee'

Democrat Barack Obama spoke before thousands of supporters in St. Paul, Minnesota Tuesday; as he earned enough delegates to claim his party's nomination. Obama praised his democratic challengers, especially Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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During a conference call with New York members of Congress, Clinton was asked by Rep. Nydia Velasquez to consider accepting the vice presidency in order to ensure that Hispanics turned out in strong numbers for the Democratic ticket.

Clinton responded that she was willing to do "whatever it takes" to elect a Democrat in the fall -- a statement widely interpreted as expressing some level of interest in being named Obama's runningmate against McCain in the fall campaign.

Clinton aides warned, however, that the New York senator had not spent any serious time weighing her political future -- choosing instead to focus on performing as well as possible in the final two primaries of nomination process.

Even if Clinton is interested in the vice presidency, it was not immediately clear that the post would be offered to her. "We don't have a short list or a long list," said senior Obama strategist David Axelrod. "We're coming here tonight to finish the process. It's way too early to talk about that."

Washington Post staff writer Shailagh Murray contributed to this report.