US Democrats vote in Pennsylvania
Clinton threatens to “obliterate” Iran as Democrats vote in presidential primary.
‘Sabre rattling’
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“One of the things that we’ve seen over the last several years is a bunch of talk using words like ‘obliterate,'” the Illinois senator said.
Pennsylvania is the first state to cast ballots in six weeks and results from the contest are expected shortly after polls close at 8pm (0000GMT).
“If she were to lose it would be curtains for Clinton.”
‘Scare tactics’
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Obama has refused to predict that he can win in Pennsylvania, but in an interview with a Pittsburgh radio station, said he would do well.
“I am not predicting a win. I am predicting it is going to be close and we are going to do a lot better than people expect,” he told KDKA.
The Illinois senator is hoping for a landslide in the Philadelphia area, with its high numbers of African-American, young and more affluent voters, to counter Clinton’s appeal in poorer, more conservative western parts of the state.
Delegate count
Nine more contests are scheduled before the campaign concludes on June 3.
But after the 15-month race, neither Democrat is expected to reach the tally of 2,025 nominating delegates to claim the nomination outright.
Obama now leads by 166 pledged delegates, 1,417 to 1,251, and leads overall by 142 delegates, 1,652 to 1,510, according to a count by MSNBC.
Clinton leads among the so-called superdelegates, 259 to 235, MSNBC said.
Clinton needs to convince nearly 800 superdelegates – senior Democrat officials who vote at August’s party nominating convention – that it would be too risky to pick the inexperienced Obama to fight John McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate, in November.