US media counts have Senator Obama passing the magic number of delegates needed to secure the nomination, as Montana and South Dakota voted in the last of a marathon season of primary and caucus contests. Securing the nomination means Senator Obama, 46, will face Republican candidate John McCain, 71.

Earlier, it was reported that Senator Clinton had told a conference call with New York members of Congress that she would be open to becoming Senator Obama's vice presidential running mate.

That would be a stunning turnaround for the warring parties, whose personal bitterness has surfaced repeatedly throughout the campaign since the first vote in Iowa in early January. A "Dream Ticket" pairing would require Senator Obama to agree to bring Senator Clinton on board.

Addressing concerns that the race has left some of the party's voters divided, Senator Obama said it was now time for Democrats to come together to defeat Senator McCain. He compared the 71-year-old Arizona senator as a carbon copy of President George W. Bush, particularly in his support of the war in Iraq.

"It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush ninety-five percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year," Mr. Obama said in his speech, to b e delivered at the site of the Republican national convention in September.

"So I'll say this -- there are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them." - Stephen L Nelson, NewsExtensions.com