Barack Obama advanced to the brink of victory in the Democratic presidential race, defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Oregon primary and moving within 70 delegates of the total he needs to claim their hard-fought nomination contest. Clinton countered with a lopsided win earlier Tuesday in Kentucky. Obama, who is seeking to become the first black U.S. President, said the night's contests gave him a majority of the delegates elected in all 56 primaries and caucuses combined. They are distinct from the nearly 800 superdelegates, party leaders and elected officials who are free to vote for any candidate and hold the balance of power at the Democratic national convention this August in Denver. Clinton won at least 54 delegates in the two states and Obama won at least 39, according to an analysis of election returns by The Associated Press. All the Kentucky delegates were awarded, but there were still 10 to be allocated in Oregon. He had 1,956 delegates overall, out of 2,026 needed for the nomination to face off against Republican John McCain in the November election. Clinton had 1,776 in their marathon race that has shattered voter turnout records in state after state. Obama has won 1,649.5 pledged delegates in the primaries and caucuses, surpassing the 1,627 needed to claim a majority.
