Clinton will concede delegate race to Obama

The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City. She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, the two senior officials said, the campaign is over.

Obama is 40 delegates shy of the 2,118 needed to clinch the nomination, but he is widely expected to make up the difference on Tuesday with superdelegate support and votes in South Dakota and Montana. Once he reaches the mark, Clinton will acknowledge that he has secured the necessary delegates to be the nominee.

Most of Clinton’s campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to divulge her plans.

The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.

Universal health care, Clinton’s signature issue as first lady in the 1990s, was a point of dispute between Obama and the New York senator during their epic nomination fight.

However, Clinton’s campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe denied the Associated Press report saying that the New York senator is “absolutely not conceding campaign.” (with inputs from Reuters)

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