Obama seeks to extend poll lead
- added May 20, 2008
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Barack Obama is hoping to take a step towards clinching the Democratic Party's US presidential nomination, as Kentucky and Oregon hold primary votes.
Senator Obama looks set to win in Oregon and Hillary Clinton in Kentucky.
In the primaries so far, Mr Obama has secured more of the delegates who will choose the party's nominee at the Democratic National Convention.
With very few delegates still to be won, correspondents say it is highly unlikely Senator Clinton can catch him.
Mrs Clinton insists the race is not yet over, but BBC correspondents say Mr Obama is keen to suggest the opposite.
Mr Obama also leads in terms of the so-called "super-delegates", who get an automatic vote at the convention by virtue of holding a senior position in the party.
Tuesday's primary votes are unlikely to push Mr Obama over the 2,026 overall delegates needed to win the party's nomination.
However, he is expected to secure a majority of the "pledged" delegates - those secured via primary votes - at stake.
This milestone could encourage those super-delegates who remain undecided to back him.
'Slap in the face'
The first polls opened in Kentucky at 0600 local time (1000 GMT) and will stay open for 12 hours.
Voters in Oregon, which has a mail-in voting system, have until 2000 local time (0300 GMT) to return their ballots to election offices.
Mrs Clinton has focused her campaign efforts on Kentucky, where she held a big lead in opinion polls going into Tuesday's vote.
"This is nowhere near over," she told supporters at a rally on Monday.
Her campaign warned Mr Obama against declaring premature victory, saying it would be a "slap in the face" to her millions of supporters so far and those states yet to vote.
Mr Obama's aides are increasingly pushing the message that he has all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination and will be the one to face Republican John McCain in November's general election.
"As we near victory in one contest, the next challenge is already heating up," campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Monday.
"President Bush and Senator McCain have begun co-ordinating their attacks on Barack Obama in an effort to extend their failed policies for a third term."
Senator Obama looks set to win in Oregon and Hillary Clinton in Kentucky.
In the primaries so far, Mr Obama has secured more of the delegates who will choose the party's nominee at the Democratic National Convention.
With very few delegates still to be won, correspondents say it is highly unlikely Senator Clinton can catch him.
Mrs Clinton insists the race is not yet over, but BBC correspondents say Mr Obama is keen to suggest the opposite.
Mr Obama also leads in terms of the so-called "super-delegates", who get an automatic vote at the convention by virtue of holding a senior position in the party.
Tuesday's primary votes are unlikely to push Mr Obama over the 2,026 overall delegates needed to win the party's nomination.
However, he is expected to secure a majority of the "pledged" delegates - those secured via primary votes - at stake.
This milestone could encourage those super-delegates who remain undecided to back him.
'Slap in the face'
The first polls opened in Kentucky at 0600 local time (1000 GMT) and will stay open for 12 hours.
Voters in Oregon, which has a mail-in voting system, have until 2000 local time (0300 GMT) to return their ballots to election offices.
Mrs Clinton has focused her campaign efforts on Kentucky, where she held a big lead in opinion polls going into Tuesday's vote.
"This is nowhere near over," she told supporters at a rally on Monday.
Her campaign warned Mr Obama against declaring premature victory, saying it would be a "slap in the face" to her millions of supporters so far and those states yet to vote.
Mr Obama's aides are increasingly pushing the message that he has all but wrapped up the Democratic nomination and will be the one to face Republican John McCain in November's general election.
"As we near victory in one contest, the next challenge is already heating up," campaign manager David Plouffe wrote in an e-mail to supporters on Monday.
"President Bush and Senator McCain have begun co-ordinating their attacks on Barack Obama in an effort to extend their failed policies for a third term."
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