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 indicate he will back Obama on Monday.
A group of 17 uncommitted Senate Democrats met on Monday todiscuss when to endorse Obama. Most are poised to announceeither on Tuesday, helping Obama lock up the nomination afterthe final contests, or wait one more day to give Clinton achance 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, but herhusband, former President Bill Clinton, sounded like he wascounting down the hours at a campaign stop in South Dakota onMonday.
"This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaignof this kind," he said.
With no more campaign trips to plan, workers who handleClinton's advance travel arrangements have been told to go toNew York or head home until further notice, aides said.
But Clinton said Tuesday marked "the beginning of a newphase of the campaign." She said she would be making her caseto superdelegates that she is the strongest candidate to beatMcCain 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 pressed her disputed claim thatshe has won more popular votes than Obama in the five-monthrace for the Democratic nomination.
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.
(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/)
