By IRNA,
New York : Senator Barack Obama is hoping to seal the Democrat nomination for the US presidential election when primaries take place in Kentucky and Oregon later Tuesday.
The votes will not officially hand him victory over rival Hillary Clinton, who started the contest as firm favourite to represent her party’s bid for the White House.
But in a clear indication of how he sees the contest shaping up, he will not spend the election night in either state, heading instead to Iowa and then Florida.
Both states have already held their primaries, but will be key when the election proper gets under way in November.
Polls show Obama leading in Oregon, where 52 delegates – the people who will elect the Democratic nominee at this summer’s party convention – are up for grabs.
Clinton is ahead in Kentucky, a state with 51 delegates and a similar demographic to West Virginia, where she won by a landslide last week.
Obama’s campaign says he needs just 17 more pledged delegates – won through state contests – to reach a majority of 1,627.
However, that does not count “superdelegates,” party leaders who can vote for the nominee of their choice at the convention.
And Clinton is vowing to battle on until the end of the primary season.
After Tuesday, there will be just three Democratic contests left – Puerto Rico on June 1, and Montana and South Dakota on June 3.
In another sign that he considers the race all but over, Obama has already launched an offensive against John McCain, criticising the Arizona senator’s plans to privatize social security benefits.