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Barack Obama Declares Victory, Claiming Democratic Presidential Nomination

ccun.org, June 4, 2008

As primary elections closed in Montana at 10 p.m. Eastern time, Barack Obama won 33 delegates, thus reaching 2,136.5 delegates, surpassing the 2,118 delegates required for the formal nomination of the Democratic Party.

Senator Hillary Clinton won 19 delegates, which gave her a total of 1,915.5 delegates.

Hillary Clinton congratulated Barack Obama for his successful campaigning efforts but stopped short of conceding to him, probably waiting for an offer from him to become his Vice President.

Barack Obama, on the hand, declared his victory, claiming the Democratic presidential nomination.

Obama in St. Paul: The end of one historic journey, the beginning of another

By Sam Graham-Felsen (Obama Campaign),  Jun 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 pm EDT

Senator Obama delivered the following remarks (as prepared) in St. Paul, Minnesota tonight...
Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end.

Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  Thousands of miles have been traveled.  Millions of voices have been heard.  And because of what you said – because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, 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.  Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign – through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls.  And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President.

At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office.  I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better.  They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
Continue reading for the full remarks... 



Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Final Primary Night
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
St. Paul, Minnesota
 
As Prepared for Delivery
 
Tonight, after fifty-four hard-fought contests, our primary season has finally come to an end. 
 
Sixteen months have passed since we first stood together on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois.  Thousands of miles have been traveled.  Millions of voices have been heard.  And because of what you said – because you decided that change must come to Washington; because you believed that this year must be different than all the rest; because you chose to listen not to your doubts or your fears but to your greatest hopes and highest aspirations, 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.  Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. 
 
I want to thank every American who stood with us over the course of this campaign – through the good days and the bad; from the snows of Cedar Rapids to the sunshine of Sioux Falls.  And tonight I also want to thank the men and woman who took this journey with me as fellow candidates for President. 
 
At this defining moment for our nation, we should be proud that our party put forth one of the most talented, qualified field of individuals ever to run for this office.  I have not just competed with them as rivals, I have learned from them as friends, as public servants, and as patriots who love America and are willing to work tirelessly to make this country better.  They are leaders of this party, and leaders that America will turn to for years to come.
 
That is particularly true for the candidate who has traveled further on this journey than anyone else.  Senator Hillary Clinton has made history in this campaign not just because she’s a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she’s a leader who inspires millions of Americans with her strength, her courage, and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight. 
 
We’ve certainly had our differences over the last sixteen months.  But as someone who’s shared a stage with her many times, I can tell you that what gets Hillary Clinton up in the morning – even in the face of tough odds – is exactly what sent her and Bill Clinton to sign up for their first campaign in Texas all those years ago; what sent her to work at the Children’s Defense Fund and made her fight for health care as First Lady; what led her to the United States Senate and fueled her barrier-breaking campaign for the presidency – an unyielding desire to improve the lives of ordinary Americans, no matter how difficult the fight may be.  And you can rest assured that when we finally win the battle for universal health care in this country, she will be central to that victory.  When we transform our energy policy and lift our children out of poverty, it will be because she worked to help make it happen.  Our party and our country are better off because of her, and I am a better candidate for having had the honor to compete with Hillary Rodham Clinton. 
 
There are those who say that this primary has somehow left us weaker and more divided.  Well I say that because of this primary, there are millions of Americans who have cast their ballot for the very first time.  There are Independents and Republicans who understand that this election isn’t just about the party in charge of Washington, it’s about the need to change Washington.   There are young people, and African-Americans, and Latinos, and women of all ages who have voted in numbers that have broken records and inspired a nation. 
 
All of you chose to support a candidate you believe in deeply.  But at the end of the day, we aren’t the reason you came out and waited in lines that stretched block after block to make your voice heard.  You didn’t do that because of me or Senator Clinton or anyone else.  You did it because you know in your hearts that at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – we cannot afford to keep doing what we’ve been doing.  We owe our children a better future.  We owe our country a better future.  And for all those who dream of that future tonight, I say – let us begin the work together.  Let us unite in common effort to chart a new course for America.
 
In just a few short months, the Republican Party will arrive in St. Paul with a very different agenda.  They will come here to nominate John McCain, a man who has served this country heroically.  I honor that service, and I respect his many accomplishments, even if he chooses to deny mine.  My differences with him are not personal; they are with the policies he has proposed in this campaign.
 
Because while John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign.
 
It’s not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year.
 
It’s not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs, or insure our workers, or help Americans afford the skyrocketing cost of college – policies that have lowered the real incomes of the average American family, widened the gap between Wall Street and Main Street, and left our children with a mountain of debt.    
 
And it’s not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians – a policy where all we look for are reasons to stay in Iraq, while we spend billions of dollars a month on a war that isn’t making the American people any safer. 
 
So I’ll say this – there are many words to describe John McCain’s attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush’s policies as bipartisan and new.  But change is not one of them. 
 
Change is a foreign policy that doesn’t begin and end with a war that should’ve never been authorized and never been waged.  I won’t stand here and pretend that there are many good options left in Iraq, but what’s not an option is leaving our troops in that country for the next hundred years – especially at a time when our military is overstretched, our nation is isolated, and nearly every other threat to America is being ignored. 
 
We must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in - but start leaving we must.  It’s time for Iraqis to take responsibility for their future.  It’s time to rebuild our military and give our veterans the care they need and the benefits they deserve when they come home.  It’s time to refocus our efforts on al Qaeda’s leadership and Afghanistan, and rally the world against the common threats of the 21st century – terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.  That’s what change is.   
 
Change is realizing that meeting today’s threats requires not just our firepower, but the power of our diplomacy – tough, direct diplomacy where the President of the United States isn’t afraid to let any petty dictator know where America stands and what we stand for.  We must once again have the courage and conviction to lead the free world. That is the legacy of Roosevelt, and Truman, and Kennedy.  That’s what the American people want.  That’s what change is. 
 
Change is building an economy that rewards not just wealth, but the work and workers who created it.  It’s understanding that the struggles facing working families can’t be solved by spending billions of dollars on more tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy CEOs, but by giving a the middle-class a tax break, and investing in our crumbling infrastructure, and transforming how we use energy, and improving our schools, and renewing our commitment to science and innovation.  It’s understanding that fiscal responsibility and shared prosperity can go hand-in-hand, as they did when Bill Clinton was President.    
 
John McCain has spent a lot of time talking about trips to Iraq in the last few weeks, but maybe if he spent some time taking trips to the cities and towns that have been hardest hit by this economy – cities in Michigan, and Ohio, and right here in Minnesota – he’d understand the kind of change that people are looking for. 
 
Maybe if he went to Iowa and met the student who works the night shift after a full day of class and still can’t pay the medical bills for a sister who’s ill, he’d understand that she can’t afford four more years of a health care plan that only takes care of the healthy and wealthy.  She needs us to pass health care plan that guarantees insurance to every American who wants it and brings down premiums for every family who needs it.  That’s the change we need. 
 
Maybe if he went to Pennsylvania and met the man who lost his job but can’t even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he’d understand that we can’t afford four more years of our addiction to oil from dictators.  That man needs us to pass an energy policy that works with automakers to raise fuel standards, and makes corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future – an energy policy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced.  That’s the change we need.
 
And maybe if he spent some time in the schools of South Carolina or St. Paul or where he spoke tonight in New Orleans, he’d understand that we can’t afford to leave the money behind for No Child Left Behind; that we owe it to our children to invest in early childhood education; to recruit an army of new teachers and give them better pay and more support; to finally decide that in this global economy, the chance to get a college education should not be a privilege for the wealthy few, but the birthright of every American.  That’s the change we need in America.  That’s why I’m running for President. 
 
The other side will come here in September and offer a very different set of policies and positions, and that is a debate I look forward to.  It is a debate the American people deserve.  But what you don’t deserve is another election that’s governed by fear, and innuendo, and division.  What you won’t hear from this campaign or this party is the kind of politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon – that sees our opponents not as competitors to challenge, but enemies to demonize.  Because we may call ourselves Democrats and Republicans, but we are Americans first.  We are always Americans first. 
 
Despite what the good Senator from Arizona said tonight, I have seen people of differing views and opinions find common cause many times during my two decades in public life, and I have brought many together myself.  I’ve walked arm-in-arm with community leaders on the South Side of Chicago and watched tensions fade as black, white, and Latino fought together for good jobs and good schools.  I’ve sat across the table from law enforcement and civil rights advocates to reform a criminal justice system that sent thirteen innocent people to death row.  And I’ve worked with friends in the other party to provide more children with health insurance and more working families with a tax break; to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and ensure that the American people know where their tax dollars are being spent; and to reduce the influence of lobbyists who have all too often set the agenda in Washington. 
 
In our country, I have found that this cooperation happens not because we agree on everything, but because behind all the labels and false divisions and categories that define us; beyond all the petty bickering and point-scoring in Washington, Americans are a decent, generous, compassionate people, united by common challenges and common hopes.  And every so often, there are moments which call on that fundamental goodness to make this country great again. 
 
So it was for that band of patriots who declared in a Philadelphia hall the formation of a more perfect union; and for all those who gave on the fields of Gettysburg and Antietam their last full measure of devotion to save that same union.
 
So it was for the Greatest Generation that conquered fear itself, and liberated a continent from tyranny, and made this country home to untold opportunity and prosperity. 
 
So it was for the workers who stood out on the picket lines; the women who shattered glass ceilings; the children who braved a Selma bridge for freedom’s cause. 
 
So it has been for every generation that faced down the greatest challenges and the most improbable odds to leave their children a world that’s better, and kinder, and more just.
 
And so it must be for us.  
 
America, this is our moment.  This is our time.  Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past.  Our time to bring new energy and new ideas to the challenges we face.  Our time to offer a new direction for the country we love.
 
The journey will be difficult.  The road will be long.  I face this challenge with profound humility, and knowledge of my own limitations.  But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people.  Because if we are willing to work for it, and fight for it, and believe in it, then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth.  This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves, and our highest ideals.  Thank you, God Bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America. 

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gG5gJ2

Obama wins presidential nomination but faces tougher battles www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-04 17:23:18 ·U.S. Senator Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night. ·Obama has passed the threshold of 2,118 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. ·Analysts said if Obama wants a victory over McCain, he must quickly readjust his strategy. U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) waves to the audience as his wife Michelle (R) claps, at his South Dakota and Montana presidential primary election night rally in St. Paul, Minnesota June 3, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)       by Yang Qingchuan     WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, becoming the first African American presidential nominee of a major U.S. party in history.     Based on the latest tally of all U.S. media organizations, Obama now has passed the threshold of 2,118 national convention delegates needed to clinch this year's Democratic nomination.          CHANGE IS THE KEY     One year ago, it was very hard to imagine that Obama, a young politician without a strong political base and little known to the public can defeat Hillary Clinton, the heir-apparent of the Democratic Party. Supporters cheer as U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) speaks at his South Dakota and Montana presidential primary election night rally at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota June 3, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)     As former first lady who has the backing of the majority of party elders, Clinton was 30 points ahead over any rivals in the party and raised more money than anyone else in the campaign.     Some analysts attributed her defeat to her flawed strategy of focusing on big states and her wishful thinking for a quick victory. When the contest turned out to be tougher and longer than expected, her campaign did not know how to cope with the situation.     As a result, Obama won 11 consecutive contests after the Super Tuesday of Feb. 5 and formed an insurmountable lead in the tally of delegates.     But some analysts said losing touch with voters is a far more serious flaw for Clinton's campaign. While highlighting her experience and strength as a candidate, she failed to cater to the general desire for change among a majority of democratic voters.     By contrast, Obama captured the voters' mentality by describing himself as a "candidate of change."          PARTY UNITY AT STAKE     The contest between Obama and Clinton is believed one of most competitive presidential primary elections in the U.S. history.     In fact, Obama only won six of the 13 races in the last three months, and trailed Clinton in total votes. His victory owes a lotto the 11 consecutive wins after Feb. 5, analysts say.     The long and fierce battle between the two candidates, however, has alienated supporters from both sides. The division was apparent at a meeting of the Democratic National Committee, or DNC, in a Washington hotel last Saturday.     After daylong debates, DNC's rules and bylaws committee finally reinstated all of Florida and Michigan's delegates to its party's presidential nomination convention in August, but delegates from the two states will only have half a vote at the convention because the two states held its primary earlier than the DNC allowed.     The DNC ruling was viewed as favoring Obama and effectively ruined Clinton's last hope to catch up with Obama in delegate tally.     Clinton supporters protested throughout the meeting and threatened to carry the fight all the way to the August convention.     Some of her supporters even said they will defect the party and vote for Republican candidate John McCain in November if Clinton can not get party nomination.     In the May 20 Kentucky primary, two-thirds of Clinton supporters said they will vote for Republican or not vote at all in the general election if Clinton is not the nominee.     For Obama, the top priority is to mend fences with Clinton and unite the party as soon as possible.     Clinton's reluctance to concede the race has made the healing of wounds difficult and put party's unity at risk.      An overall view of the South Dakota and Montana presidential primary election night rally for U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota June 3, 2008.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)     FORMIDABLE RIVAL     The Democrats seem to stand a good chance to beat Republicans in this presidential election and that boosts Obama's odds against his Republican opponent McCain in the general election.     Though voters now prefer Democratic policy positions on most major issues, Obama has only a 0.7-percent lead over McCain in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.     His favor ability ratings among independents has dropped from 63percent to 49 percent since late February.     Furthermore, although Obama has spent months to court working-class voters, his efforts don't seem to pay off yet.     Voters agree with Obama's position on Iraq, but they put more trust in McCain's ability to handle the concrete issue, according to the polls of Pew Research Center.     At the moment, Obama's main strategy against McCain is to define the latter as Republican President George W. Bush's heir, but that doesn't prove very persuasive as many voters view the definition as inaccurate.     In fact, McCain is at odds with Bush on many issues, ranging from the torture of terrorist suspects to global warming, though he has to stick with the president on his very unpopular Iraq policy.     Analysts said if Obama wants an overwhelming victory over McCain, a formidable rival in many sense, he must quickly readjust his strategy and adapt himself to the forthcoming new battles.

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