Despite Hillary Clinton's 'consolation' win in Kentucky, Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has won a majority of pledged delegates, according to a CNN report.
Hillary Clinton soundly defeated Obama in Kentucky, a state with White working class majority, but analysts said it would be doubtful whether it would change the odds in her favour.
Though Clinton won Kentucky by an impressive margin of over 30 points, Obama managed to pick up 51 delegates from the state, which gave him the desired majority for the Democratic nomination.
The Kentucky primary will give Obama 1,627 of the 3,253 pledged delegates, in all the of primaries and caucuses, according to the report.
Analysts hailed this as a 'milestone' but added that this is not the end of the bitterly-fought presidential race, as neither Clinton nor Obama is expected to reach the 2,026 delegates, needed to win the Democratic nomination.
Both leaders may have to wait till the Democratic convention in August where the 'superdelegates' will cast their votes.
But in Oregon, the other state where primary was held on Tuesday, Obama is expected to win and pick up enough delegates to reach an unassailable figure.
The two states together would send 103 delegates to the party convention in Denver in August to choose the party nominee. After Tuesday's vote, only 68 delegates remain at stake in the June 3 primaries.
Addressing a victory rally on Tuesday night after she defeated Obama, Clinton repeated her argument that she is a better candidate to take on presumptive Republican candidate John McCain, because of her experience and because she has won swing as well major states.
Party bosses are scheduled to meet towards the end of May to decide on the fate of delegates from Florida and Michigan, who have been debarred from voting in the party convention to nominate the presidential candidate, because they held primaries earlier in violation of party rules.
Clinton is asserting that the party should take into consideration that she would win the popular vote if the two states were counted.
The Obama campaign has already started looking beyond the party race and has repeatedly clashed with presumptive Republican candidate John McCain during the last few days.
Obama, sure of victory, began attacking McCain, who too started paying back in kind, apparently considering him to be the ultimate Democratic nominee.
Image: Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama, with wife Michelle and their daughters Sasha and Malia, at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday.
Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
