Clinton wins lopsided Puerto Rico primary

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Hillary Rodham Clinton won a lopsided but largely symbolic victory Sunday in Puerto Rico's presidential primary, the final act in a weekend that brought Barack Obama close to the Democratic presidential nomination.

The former first lady was winning roughly two-thirds of the votes as she continued a strong run through the late primaries.

Before cheering supporters, she predicted she would have more combined votes than her rival when the primaries end Tuesday night, claimed victories in key swing states and said that no contender will command enough delegates to claim the nomination.

Obama and his aides projected confidence, and even in defeat, he gained 17 delegates in Puerto Rico, leaving him 47 short of the 2,118 needed to clinch the nomination.

Contrary to Clinton, they predicted he was on track to gain a delegate majority shortly after the primaries in South Dakota and Montana.

Obama's confidence in the outcome of the contest reflected the results of Saturday's meeting of the Democratic Party's rules and bylaws committee. Before an audience that jeered and cheered by turns, the panel voted to seat disputed delegations from Michigan and Florida, but give each delegate only one-half vote rather than the full vote sought by the Clinton campaign.

With all precincts reporting, the Puerto Rico vote count showed Clinton with 263,120 votes, or 68 percent, to Obama's 121,458, or 32 percent.

Obama had a total of 2,071 delegates in The Associated Press count, including 17 from Puerto Rico. He also gained the support of two superdelegates during the day.

Clinton has 1915.5, including 38 from Puerto Rico.

There are 31 delegates combined at stake in Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday, and Obama's high command sounded confident that enough superdelegates were poised to quickly climb on and deliver him the nomination.

There have been numerous statements by party leaders in recent days indicating they favor a quick end to the presidential race so the party can begin unifying for the fall race against John McCain, the Arizona senator who wrapped up the Republican nomination months ago.

And while Clinton's campaign said it reserved the right to challenge the decision concerning Michigan's delegates, Speaker Nancy Pelosi rushed out a statement Saturday night that congratulated the committee "for its good work."

The California Democrat has been neutral in the race, but also has been calling uncommitted lawmakers in recent days, urging them to issue their own endorsements soon after Tuesday.

Robert Gibbs, a senior aide, did not rule out the possibility that Obama will seat the Michigan and Florida delegations at full strength if he is the nominee.

"I think any nominee may make some decisions at some point regarding those delegations," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Clinton's campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe, appearing on the same program, declined to say what Clinton would do. "We'll see where we are when we finish up Tuesday," he said. "Then superdelegates will begin to move."

He, as well as Clinton's communications director, Howard Wolfson, said the former first lady had won more votes that Obama in the course of the primary campaign -- an argument she placed in a new television advertisement in South Dakota and Montana, and one she makes to undecided superdelegates.

Gibbs disputed that -- and Clinton's claim includes estimates for caucuses in Iowa, Nevada, Maine and Washington state, where no official candidate popular vote is available. It also includes the results from Florida, where no campaigning occurred, as well as Michigan, where Obama did not receive any votes because his name was not on the ballot.

Clinton's campaign objected to the rules committee decision on Michigan's delegates, saying it had arbitrarily taken four delegates away from the former first lady and awarded them to Obama. As a result, officials said she may seek a decision on the issue by the convention credentials committee, which meets shortly before the convention opens in Denver.

Harold Ickes, a top adviser to Clinton, said on NBC's "Meet The Press" no decision had yet been made.

"I have not had a chance to talk with Senator Clinton at any length about it, and obviously this will be a big decision. But her rights are reserved," he said.

But one of her strongest supporters, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, sounded uninterested in a further challenge.

"I don't think we're going to fight this at the convention, because even were we to win it, unless it's going to change enough delegates for Senator Clinton to win the nomination, then it would be a fight that would have no purpose," Rendell said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

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Associated Press writer Danica Coto contributed to this report. AP Special Correspondent David Espo reported from Washington.