Barack Obama easily won Oregon but lost by a wide margin to Hillary Clinton in Kentucky, on one of the last pages of a tumultuous primary-season. With 58% of the vote in Oregon and 30% in Kentucky, Mr. Obama picked up at least 39 more pledged delegates yesterday, while Mrs. Clinton’s 42% in Oregon and 65% in Kentucky netted her at least 54 delegates, according to the Associated Press’s calculations. About 14% of the votes in Oregon — tied to the allocation of 10 remaining delegates — were still to be counted. Why can’t Barack seal the deal?

News
The New York Times: Obama Expected to Hit Milestone in Tuesday’s Votes
“Senator Barack Obama is poised to reach a milestone in the presidential race on Tuesday by capturing a majority of pledged delegates, but he said he would not declare victory against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton or suggest the Democratic primary should end until the final three contests are finished on June 3. For Mr. Obama, the situation is delicate. While eager to proceed to a general election match with Senator John McCain of Arizona, the likely Republican nominee, Mr. Obama is also trying to bring the contest to a close in a way that allows him to win over Mrs. Clinton’s supporters and unify the party. For her part, Mrs. Clinton is making a counterargument that she is winning the popular vote if Florida and Michigan are counted, and that the party’s leaders should take that into consideration before deciding which candidate to support.”

The Wall Street Journal: Goldwater Legacy Echoes in McCain Run, Despite Differences
“Sen. Goldwater’s presidential run helped create the modern conservative movement. Sen. McCain’s presidential run has challenged it. “You could say that he is more of a pragmatist,” said Barry Goldwater Jr., who recently published a book of his father’s writings, including one tense exchange with Sen. McCain. “He’s not what I would call an idealist. He’s conservative, but with reservations, perhaps.” On the campaign trail, Sen. McCain often invokes his predecessor. Sometimes it is a joke, a reminder that a series of Arizona men have sought but failed to reach the White House. At other times, he speaks with reverence, as he did in Prescott. “He was irascible and principled, fiercely independent and deeply patriotic,” Sen. McCain said with gusto, hitting each word hard.”

The Washington Post: Democrats Observe A Fragile Cease-Fire
“Sen. Barack Obama will return to Iowa tonight to celebrate another milestone in his long and sometimes bitter battle against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who shows no signs of dropping her effort to convince party leaders that she would be a stronger Democratic nominee for president.View Only Top Items in This Story But the reality is that both sides have declared an effective cease-fire as they prepare to bring the party together for a general-election campaign against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Obama (Ill.) has moved rapidly in the past 10 days to shift away from daily sparring with Clinton (N.Y.) and to begin a general-election debate with McCain that presents a fresh set of tests for his candidacy. His aides insist that he is mindful of doing nothing to suggest impatience with Clinton or to signal that she should end her candidacy before she is ready.”

The New York Times: McCain Finds a Thorny Path in Ethics Effort
“Sorting out the lobbying entanglements of his campaign advisers is proving to be a messy business for Senator John McCain. On Monday, just days after it issued new rules to address conflicts of interest, the McCain campaign was furiously sifting through the business records of aides and advisers. The new rules were prompted by disclosures that led to the abrupt departure from the campaign of a number of aides who worked as lobbyists, including some with ties to foreign governments. Mr. McCain’s political identity has long been defined by his calls for reducing the influence of special interests in Washington. But as he heads toward the general election as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, he has increasingly confronted criticism that his campaign staff is stocked with people who have made their living as lobbyists or in similar jobs, leaving his credentials as a reformer open to attack.”

San Francisco Chronicle: Clinton, Obama expected to split today’s votes
“Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama are expected to split their primaries today, Obama winning Oregon and Clinton taking Kentucky, a wash that will leave Obama on course to take the Democratic presidential nomination when the primaries end June 3. A victory in Oregon is expected to hand Obama a clear majority of the pledged delegates elected by voters, but it will still leave him short of the 2,025 delegates he needs to claim the nomination. He also, however, holds a majority of superdelegates, the elected officials and party insiders who hold the balance of power and are rapidly moving into his camp.”

Opinion
Richard Cohen: Why She Fights On
Gregory Rodriguez: The fear of white decline
Jackson Diehl: A ‘League’ By Other Names
Bret Stephens: Obama and the Jews
Margery Eagan: Female fans put Hillary Clinton before Democratic Party
The Washington Times: Rhetoric and abortion

News
The New York Times: Ex-Rival Edwards Throws His Support to Obama
“John Edwards gave his long-awaited endorsement to Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday, bolstering Mr. Obama’s efforts to rally the Democratic Party around his candidacy and offering potential help in his efforts to win over working class white voters in the general election. “The Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I,” Mr. Edwards told a roaring crowd of more than 12,000 people here in the Van Andel Arena, on a day when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to capitalize on her victory on Tuesday in West Virginia and convince superdelegates and contributors that she still has a chance to capture the Democratic nomination.”

The Wall Street Journal: McCain Aide Trains His Sights on Obama
“Mark Salter, a writer with a gray-flecked goatee and a pack-a-day cigarette habit, is working on the climactic chapter of his career: getting his boss, Sen. John McCain, elected president. When it comes to Sen. McCain’s image, Mr. Salter, 53 years old, is the campaign’s chief creator, shaper and enforcer. For two decades, he has been the presumed Republican nominee’s speechwriter, adviser and confidant. He has helped the senator write two best-selling memoirs, on which they split the proceeds 50-50. The senator says they are “like brothers.” Now that Sen. Barack Obama has emerged as the likely Democratic nominee, Mr. Salter is poised to play a large role in a general-election campaign filled with potential land mines, from race issues to Sen. McCain’s age, which is 71.”

Associated Press: 4 John Edwards delegates back Barack Obama — so do 4 superdelegates
“Barack Obama collected the support of four of John Edwards’ Democratic National Convention delegates on Thursday, then gained the backing of four superdelegates and a large labor union as he marched steadily toward the party’s presidential nomination. The fresh support brought Obama’s overall delegate total to 1,895, compared to 1,718 for his rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. It takes 2,026 to clinch the nomination at the party convention in Denver this summer. Edwards, who bestowed his long-sought endorsement on Obama on Wednesday, won 19 delegates before departing the presidential race in January. Within hours, Obama picked up the backing of three of them from South Carolina and one in New Hampshire.”

Opinion
David Broder: For Obama, a Lost Moment
Marie Cocco: Misogyny I Won’t Miss
Gail Collins: A Victory Plan for Hillary
Douglas Schoen: Steeling Obama
Joan Vennochi: Race, gender, and hardball politics
Karl Rove: The GOP Must Stand for Something
The Washington Times: McCain’s path to victory

Yesterday, John Edwards finally through his weight behind the obvious choice. Where was this endorsement two weeks ago? Edwards is clearly playing nice and has avoided burning any bridges with the Clintons by holding out this long to endorse Obama.

News
The New York Times: Clinton Beats Obama Handily in West Virginia
“Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton arranged to meet with uncommitted superdelegates on Wednesday following her lopsided win in the West Virginia primary, as her supporters argued that her appeal to some traditional Democratic voting blocks may change some opinions despite the continued long odds that she can secure her party’s nomination. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, a supporter of Mrs. Clinton, said “superdelegates have to have second thoughts” after West Virginia, speaking in an interview Wednesday morning on CNN. But Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico minimized the impact of the West Virginia, saying the state was “tailor made” for Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Richardson a supporter of Senator Barack Obama, said the continuing contest between the Democratic candidates was becoming harmful to the party. Also speaking on CNN, he said “We have to unite behind the nominee.” Mrs. Clinton defeated Senator Obama Tuesday in a primary where racial considerations emerged as an unusually salient factor.”

The Wall Street Journal: Obama Has to Start From Scratch in Michigan
“Barack Obama unofficially kicks off his campaign against John McCain Wednesday in Michigan, a state the Democrats have barely held onto in recent years and where they start at a big disadvantage. Because Sen. Obama, who appears close to wrapping up the Democratic nomination, didn’t compete in the Michigan primary, he needs to build from scratch the kind of political operation he has been assembling for months in other states. He also faces a state party that is sharply polarized, behind schedule and hamstrung by an ill-timed lawsuit. “Every Democratic party in the country benefited from the primary and caucus season” except Michigan and Florida, said Amy Chapman, a Democratic activist in Michigan who has managed several statewide campaigns. “It’s going to make for a much tougher race in the fall.”"

The Washington Times: Rumor mill keeps Obama on defense
“Sen. Barack Obama says he is well-prepared to battle false smears and Republican attacks on his religion and patriotism, but various rumors have permeated so deeply into the electorate that they present a general election challenge for the likely Democratic presidential nominee. From state to state, voters who support Mr. Obama’s rivals regularly cite information gleaned from e-mails that falsely claim that he is a Muslim or that he doesn’t respect the Pledge of Allegiance. “His name scares me, his background scares me,” said Terri Knowles, a grandmother from Tippecanoe County, Ind. She voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last week and said that if Mr. Obama wins the nomination, she will sit out the November election.”

Los Angeles Times: In Michigan, Obama says he has better job ideas than McCain
“Democrat Barack Obama, one day after being routed by rival Hillary Rodham Clinton among blue-collar workers in the West Virginia primary, took his campaign to the battleground state of Michigan today, unveiling a $150-billion “clean technologies” fund for manufacturing so that Detroit remains a powerhouse in a restructured automobile industry. “I’m running for president so the cars of the future will be made where they’ve always been made, right here in Michigan,” he told workers at a town hall meeting in Warren, in Macomb County, often a bellwether in national elections. He also toured a Chrysler plant in Sterling Heights, another stronghold of so-called Reagan Democrats critical in the fall campaign. Pushing for innovation and a green energy sector to “bring our automobile industry into the 21st century” and create jobs “that pay well and can’t be outsourced,” the Illinois senator said he wants the auto industry to “have a partner in Washington.” To applause from the crowd, which included Michigan superdelegate Debbie Dingell, Obama said, “You won’t have to wait one year, two years . . . you’ll meet with me in the first one month I’m in office.”"

Opinion
Maureen Dowd: Raspberry for Barry
Harold Meyerson: McCain’s America
Carol Marin: Obamas have a golden opportunity