"WASHINGTON (AP) Ñ Barack Obama focused his campaign message against likely Republican nominee John McCain amid mounting signs that the historic monthslong battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination was coming to a close.
Obama has almost tied Clinton in the crucial superdelegate count that she once dominated, a sign that her financially strapped campaign with its dwindling support is nearly over.

Obama's quiet, and increasing, confidence that the nomination is his was evident in his campaigning Friday in Oregon, where he aimed his criticism at McCain and largely ignored his Democratic rival. He planned to continue campaigning in the state on Saturday.

"I'm gratified that we've got some superdelegates who are coming our way. And I think we've got a strong case to make that I will be a nominee that can pull the party together and take on John McCain," Obama told reporters in Woodburn, Oregon.

After a sometimes bitter and acrimonious campaign, the Democratic race entered its final weeks, with electoral math the deciding factor. Clinton, unlikely to be able to erase Obama's 1,859.5 to 1,698 lead in delegates, needs massive support from those superdelegates Ñ party leaders free to vote as they chose Ñ who have yet to declare their preference.

(USA Today)

At this point the consensus is that Obama is confronting John McCain, and the rest of the democratic process for nomination is almost just housekeeping. Let us hope that Hillary does not complicate it or become a distraction from this confrontation.

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