Reports: Clinton open to being Obama running mate available (Roundup)

Jun 3, 2008, 22:08 GMT

Washington - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton would consider a possible offer to become Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate, if her rival secures the party's nomination, television reports said Tuesday as the last primary contests were underway.

Obama is projected to clinch the Democratic nomination after the final primary votes are tallied on Tuesday in Montana and South Dakota, the last two contests of the campaign. Throughout the day a handful of superdelegates switched their allegiance to Obama, bringing him about a dozen delegates shy of the number needed to win.

However, the Clinton campaign appeared conflicted about whether she would concede the race to Obama later Tuesday.

A top Clinton advisor earlier denied that the candidate plans to acknowledge Obama has won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination after the polls close in the final state-by-state contests.

His comments came after a report cited Clinton campaign aides saying that Clinton would concede Tuesday night that Obama has enough delegates. In response, the Clinton campaign said in a statement, 'Senator Clinton will not concede the nomination this evening.'

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said on CNN the report was '100 per cent incorrect.'

But McAuliffe said if Obama does secure the required number of delegates Clinton would likely acknowledge his win.

'If Senator Obama gets the number, I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee,' McAuliffe said Tuesday on NBC's Today show. 'She has given her heart and soul to this campaign.'

CNN reported that Clinton had told New York lawmakers Tuesday that she would consider the number two spot if asked by Obama.

Obama picked up at least half a dozen superdelegates Tuesday, according to Bloomberg news service, including Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest ranking black leader in Congress, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a longtime Clinton supporter.

With additional superdelegate endorsements expected as the contest winds down and his share of the 31 pledged delegates at stake in Tuesday's primaries, the Illinois senator could reach the 2,118 delegates needed to become the party's nominee.

'I think that by 6 o'clock this evening there will be enough so- called superdelegates endorsing so that the 15 or so delegates that we expect' from Tuesday's primaries 'will allow him to say in Minnesota tonight that he's there,' Clyburn said as he endorsed Obama.

Clinton trails Obama in the delegate count needed to secure the nomination, but believes she can persuade superdelegates, a group of Democratic party insiders who cast votes independently of the state- by-state process, that she is the best candidate to square off against Republican John McCain in the November 4 election. However, her chances of overtaking Obama have grown increasingly slim.

Her husband, former president Bill Clinton raised speculation that his wife was preparing to exit the race during a campaign rally Monday.

'This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind,' Bill Clinton said in South Dakota.

'I thought I was out of politics until Hillary decided to run. It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to go around and campaign for her for president,' he said.

A group of more than a dozen undecided Democratic senators reportedly met Monday in Washington to consider their options. The Washington Post Tuesday reported that the group may endorse Obama after polling stations close in the two final states.

Clinton gained some last-minute momentum after trouncing Obama Sunday in Puerto Rico's primary. But the victory by 68 to 32 per cent could be Clinton's last, as Obama is favoured Tuesday in both Montana and South Dakota - the final events in the state-by-state intra-party contests that began on January 3 in Iowa.