Yes, He Can!

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Even the die-hards have admitted it’s over.

Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, a long-time loyal Clinton supporter, told reporters Wednesday, "I am the last of the Mohicans, but it is over."

And it’s about time, say many weary Democrats after one of the most heated and protracted party nomination races in history.

Even while the last two primary states, South Dakota and Montana, held their contests Tuesday, Obama had already secured enough delegates by midday to secure the nomination, as a flood of superdelegates pledged their allegiance to him throughout the day.

South Dakota and Montana’s results were mostly expected, though some say Clinton’s victory margin of 55-45 in South Dakota was larger than polls predicted. Obama enjoyed a large margin of victory in Montana, coming out ahead 56-41.

No matter. With the superdelegates rushing to him at what some say was the last minute, Obama easily secured the needed 2,118 delegates to secure the nomination. The up-to-the-minute delegate tracker, DemCon Watch, has Obama’s tally at 2180 at press time, and Clinton at 1921. Eight superdelegates switched their allegiance from Clinton to Obama in the first two days of the week.

As is typical for him, his victory speech Tuesday night in St. Paul was a stunner.

"America, this is our moment. This is our time," said Obama to the standing-room-only crowd at the Xcel Energy Center Arena. "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."

In addition to the crowd of 17,000 inside the arena, 15,000 more were turned away, and watched the event on Jumbotrons. Some had stood in lines that stretched 20 blocks long, for as long as 12 hours, to secure a seat inside the arena.

Not that the seats were used very much.The ecstatic crowd interrupted Obama’s 27-minute speech more than 50 times to roar with approval at his message.

He also had the expected positive words for his vanquished opponent, Hillary Clinton, even though she did not follow protocol herself, refusing to concede even as it became glaringly obvious that the fight was over for her. "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," Obama said.

What’s next for the presumptive Democratic nominee? First, he needs to find a running mate. Clinton has said she is "open" to the idea, but political experts say it is doubtful that she will be Obama’s choice.

Next, he will need to formulate his strategy against the Republican nominee, John McCain. We can already expect what the two will have to say about each other. McCain will claim that Obama is too young and inexperienced to run the country, and Obama will counter that McCain is too old and a representative of a past government that has failed to serve its people.

But for now, Obama’s supporters were delighted to take a moment to celebrate the senator’s message of hope and change for the future. "You [stood in line] not because of me or Sentaor 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," said Obama to loud cheers from the crowd. "We owe our children a better future. We owe our country a better future."