AP: OBAMA CLINCHES NOMINATION

breaking news. Interestingly, 20 minutes later this is still not being reported/repeated on cable news networks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.Campaigning on an insistent call for change, Obama outlasted former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic race that sparked record turnout in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial divisions within the party.The AP tally was based on public commitments from delegates as well as more than a dozen private commitments. It also included a minimum number of delegates Obama was guaranteed even if he lost the final two primaries in South Dakota and Montana later in the day.The 46-year-old first-term senator will face Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the fall campaign to become the 44th president.    

UPDATE: An MSNBC television reporter in the field just mentioned the report and its conclusions as fact, when the on-air anchorpeople were ignoring it. This occurred a full hour after the AP report was sent to newspapers. I suspect the timing of the AP report was designed for afternoon newspapers and those with early deadlines for tomorrow’s edition.  Further update:  At 1:43pm CDT, MSNBC is reporting that Obama “needs 26.5 delegates to win the nomination.”  He is expecting a minimum of 15 from the primary results tonight.  This would mean that he only needs the endorsement of 10 more superdelegates, and these people are watching the news today.  In addition, a sufficient number have already privately told AP (see story above) that they are going to support Obama.  So all of this is being carefully stage managed so that the actual votes of primary voters in the last two states will “put Obama over the top” tonight.  Clinton will make her speech tonight in the face of this inevitability.