Campaign chief : Clinton to concede defeat only after Obama reaches delegate threshold

Source: Xinhua | 06-04-2008 08:57

WASHINGTON, June 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton will concede defeat only after her rival Barack Obama reaches the threshold of 2,118 delegates to secure the nomination, her campaign chief said Tuesday.

Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe told reporters that if Obama reaches the 2,118 delegates needed to be the nominee at the end of the day, Clinton will "congratulate him and call him the nominee."

But he denied an early report from the Associated Press that she will concede the race to Obama at a gathering in New York Tuesday night, saying she is not "prepared" to do so.

Obama is some 40 delegates shy of the 2,118 now needed to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination.

There are not enough pledged delegates at stake in Montana and South Dakota to put Obama over the top, but a rush of endorsements by the remaining undeclared "superdelegates" could allow him to claim victory later Tuesday in Minnesota, where he plans a celebration to kick off the general-election campaign.

Editor:Xiong Qu