Superdelegates Put Obama Within Mathematical Reach

(AP) – The end of the race for the Democratic nomination may be in sight.

Barack Obama’s wave of superdelegate endorsements puts him within reach by the end of the primary season, even if he loses half of the remaining six contests.

The Illinois senator has picked up 26 superdelegates in the past week. At that pace, he will reach the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination — 2,025 — in the next three weeks.

There are 217 delegates at stake in the six remaining primaries. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s best chance to slow Obama may rest with the Democratic National Committee’s rules panel, which will consider proposals to seat the delegates that had been stripped from Florida and Michigan.

Those two states violated national party rules by holding early primaries.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)