Obama picks up superdelegates; undecideds moving his way

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"I think the time has come to support Senator Obama as the likely nominee," McClellan said in a conference call with reporters. "Given what happened last night, it's very unlikely we will have a different result, and it is time to come together as a party and prepare for victory against John McCain in November."

Obama also got the support of North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek, North Carolina Democratic National Committee member Jeanette Council and California DNC member Inola Henry.

Clinton met with undecided superdelegates at Democratic Party headquarters Wednesday. She said, "We talked a lot about Florida and Michigan," two states that she won but don't have any delegates to count toward her total because their early primaries violated party rules. "I continue to emphasize and stress that we cannot disenfranchise those voters."

Clinton said later that she would be sending a letter to Obama and Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean expressing her belief that seating the Florida and Michigan delegations is a civil rights and voting rights issue.

Obama was to make his pitch to the congressional fence sitters in meetings Thursday. He also planned to start traveling to swing states to signal that the general election has begun.

Superdelegates supporting Obama recently have given a number of reasons. They recognize he is the front-runner and want to end a divisive party fight. They were impressed with his handling of a crisis that confronted his campaign in the comments of his former pastor. They don't want to risk alienating black voters who are excited about Obama's chance to become the first black president. They simply think Obama would be a more attractive choice at the top of the ticket.

"I think that Senator Obama is going to be a tremendous boost for down-ballot races in North Carolina," Meek told the AP. "He's going to turn out segments of the electorate particularly young people and African-Americans who have historically low turnout levels. That will help candidates up and down the ballot."

Nancy Worley, Alabama's former secretary of state and the state Democratic Party's first vice chair, said she got calls Wednesday morning from Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine both Obama supporters.

"It appears that the Obama supporters, just from my perspective, are working a little harder at getting commitments," she said. Clinton's campaign has mainly used letters and e-mails, with occasional calls from staffers, she said, while Obama has used more of a "personal touch" with direct phone calls.

Nonetheless, she said she still hasn't been convinced one way or another even though she said she would be reluctant to vote against the pledged delegate leader. That is almost certain to be Obama.

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