By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama and Hillary Clintonneared the finish line of their dramatic Democraticpresidential duel on Monday, with Obama poised to claim thenomination as Clinton faced the possible end of her bid.
Campaigning before the final two nominating contests inMontana and South Dakota, Obama promised to unify the party forthe November election against Republican John McCain and saidhe and Clinton would be able to come together.
"Senator Clinton has run an outstanding race, she is anoutstanding public servant, and she and I will be workingtogether in November," Obama, an Illinois senator, said duringa campaign stop in Troy, Michigan.
Obama said he told Clinton in a phone conversation onSunday that "once the dust settled I was looking forward tomeeting with her at a time and place of her choosing."
Clinton made a final campaign visit to South Dakota beforeshe returns to New York on Tuesday for a rally that could beher farewell to a race she entered as a heavy favourite but nowhas almost no chance of winning.
Obama is fewer than 40 delegates shy of the 2,118 needed toclinch the win, and could reach the number quickly with helpfrom some of the approximately 180 uncommitted superdelegates-- party officials who can back any candidate at the Augustnominating convention in Denver.
Obama gained seven more superdelegates on Monday, but theslow trickle of endorsements could turn into a flood as thevoting ends in Montana and South Dakota, which have a combined31 delegates at stake.
Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the third-rankingDemocrat in the U.S. House of Representatives and thetop-ranking black member of Congress, was among thesuperdelegates to back Obama on Monday.
A group of 17 uncommitted Senate Democrats met on Monday todiscuss a potential endorsement of Obama. Many are poised toannounce either on Tuesday, helping Obama lock up thenomination after the final contests, or wait another day togive Clinton a chance to bow out, Senate aides said.
"There are a lot of superdelegates who are waiting for thelast couple of contests but I think that they are going to bemaking decisions fairly quickly after that," Obama toldreporters in Michigan.
"My sense is that between Tuesday and Wednesday that we'vegot a good chance of getting the number that we need to win thenomination," he said.
Voting ends in South Dakota at 7 p.m. MDT/9 p.m. EDT (2a.m. British time), and in Montana an hour later, with resultsexpected shortly after.
STAYING IN THE RACE
Campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee told reporters Clinton hadno plans to pull out of the race on Tuesday night, and Clintonsaid she would be making her case to superdelegates that she isthe strongest candidate to beat McCain in November.
"The decision will fall to the delegates empowered to voteat the Democratic convention. I will be spending the comingdays making my case to those delegates," Clinton toldsupporters in Yankton, South Dakota.
"We have a very strong case to make that I am the bestpositioned to take back the White House and put this country onthe right track," she said.
The New York senator also makes the disputed claim that shehas won more popular votes than Obama in the five-month racefor the Democratic nomination, and has argued thatsuperdelegates committed to Obama could still switch to her.
"One thing about superdelegates is that they can changetheir minds," Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane onSunday.
Clinton's popular-vote math includes a disputed vote totalin Michigan, where the contest was not sanctioned by thenational party and Obama was not on the ballot. It does notcount contests won by Obama but waged in a caucus system thatdoes not tally individual votes.
Popular votes do not determine the party's nominee, who isselected by delegates at the convention. Obama's lead indelegates is unassailable unless Clinton wins nearly all theremaining uncommitted superdelegates.
Campaign workers who handle Clinton's advance travelarrangements have been told to go to New York or head home towait until more trips are planned, aides said.
Obama's visit to Michigan, a battleground state inNovember, came two days after a party committee voted to seatthe state's delegation to the August nominating convention athalf-strength and award a portion of the delegates to Obamaeven though he was not on the ballot.
That decision was a blow to Clinton, who did not want anyMichigan delegates awarded to Obama, and ignited a firestorm ofcriticism from Clinton supporters.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan, Thomas Ferraro andEllen Wulfhorst; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visitReuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online athttp://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/)
