Obama needs only about 36 more delegates, and he told The Associated Press in an interview that he expects to get about 15 of those in today’s primaries in South Dakota and Montana. Superdelegates will finish the job. Superdelegates surge to Obama

A tsunami of superdelegates is poised to rush to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over the next 12 hours, giving him a mathematical lock on his party’s presidential nomination.

The superdelegate surge is likely to swamp a few holdouts within the camp of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) who have been resisting a prompt concession.


Aides say Clinton does not plan to concede or bid supporters farewell when she speaks in New York tonight, but instead will salute her supporters and argue for the strength of her candidacy.

But her clout is ebbing by the hour. At 6:56 a.m. Eastern time, the Obama campaign announced the first of the day’s slew of endorsements by superdelegates – the Democratic Party officials who have a vote on the nominee and will determine who it is, since neither Obama nor Clinton have won enough delegates in primaries and caucuses to put them over the top.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said on NBC’s “Today” show: “If Senator Obama gets the number, I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him, call him the nominee. We haven't gotten to that number yet.”

Obama needs only about 36 more delegates, and he told The Associated Press in an interview that he expects to get about 15 of those in today’s primaries in South Dakota and Montana. Superdelegates will finish the job.

“A lot of people recognize that it is going to be time for us to pivot and move on,” he said.

Robert Gibbs, Obama’s campaign communications director, said on CNN’s “American Morning” that the campaign is “still working the phones and talking to people.”

“I think there's a pretty good chance that by the time Barack Obama walks out on the stage tonight, we'll walk out as Democratic nominee as president of the United States,” Gibbs said. “We'll begin a new phase in this campaign and talk about what's next for this country and what direction we can take it in — the type of change that you can believe in.”

Joyce Lalonde, a political and education activist from Michigan, was the first to superdelegate announce for Obama today. She was quickly followed by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) who announced on NBC’s “Today” show.

At noon, the Obama campaign announced: "Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (MI-13) endorsed Barack Obama. Obama is 36.5 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination."

And on a conference call, Clyburn announced three more superdelegates who he said will endorse Obama today: Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina; New York superdelegate Ralph Dawson, and Tim Moore, a South Carolina Edwards delegate.

Clyburn said he'd spoken to Nancy Pelosi.

"She will be making her own announcement on that subject tomorrow...or the next day," he said.

Shortly after polls close in Montana at 10 p.m. Eastern time, as many as 28 other superdelegates – including House members, senators and governors – could quickly follow, according to statements they have made to Politico and other news organizations.

Obama aides are hoping that he’ll be able to announce victory when he speaks in St. Paul tonight, but they say they aren’t positive he’ll reach that level in time. But the nomination should be his within hours after that.

Most Clinton advisers recognize that it’s just about time for a unity event with Obama, but they say she’ll take a day or more to choreograph her exit.

A few Clinton diehards argue she can still win, and have vowed to fight all the way through the August convention. But Obama’s prospective superdelegate tally is likely to sink that argument.