Jun 3, 2008 11:30 pm US/Eastern
Clinton: No Decision On Next Steps
Senator To Meet With Party Leaders Before Making Move
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Senator Barack Obama is the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democrats, and he is the first African American to do so.
Tuesday night's primaries and superdelegate pledges put him over the top. He later declared victory in St. Paul, Minn., but his proclamation was not echoed by Hillary Clinton's speech just moments before.
Clinton said she will consult with party leaders and supporters to determine her next steps now that Obama has enough delegates to clinch the nomination.
In her speech, Clinton told supporters that: "This has been a long campaign and I will be making no decisions tonight."
But she made it clear she's looking for more.
"A lot of people are asking, 'What does Hillary want,"' Clinton told supporters. "I want what I have always fought for: I want the nearly 18 million people who voted for me to be respected and heard."
As she spoke, her supporters chanted "Denver, Denver," thinking ahead to the site of the party's convention in August.
Earlier in the day, Clinton told congressional colleagues she would be open to joining Obama's ticket as his vice presidential nominee. But in her speech, the former first lady stopped short of ending or suspending her campaign. She did say she was committed to a united Democratic Party moving forward.
Clinton will hang on for a while for several reasons. First is the hope that she will be considered as the vice presidential running mate. She told New York lawmakers on Tuesday that she wanted it.
And if she doesn't get that, pundits say, there are other things she wants.
"Hillary needs to be perceived as a senior leader in the Democratic Party going forward," said David Birdsell of Baruch College. That means consultation by and with the Obama campaign certainly on appointments, certainly on large policy issues and certainly on relationships with constituencies that supported her."
And sources tell WCBS-TV that Team Hillary wants to be on the Democratic ticket, but experts say that's something that can cut two ways.
"Barack Obama has spent months campaigning against old Washington and Hillary Clinton is one of the primary examples of old Washington. To put her on the ticket would undermine his appeal," Birdsell said.
On the other hand, Clinton has won an enormous number of votes, has won important states like New York, California, Florida and Ohio, and is a huge hit among blue collar workers in battleground states, which could help Obama in his quest to beat John McCain.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
