This is pretty big news, and I think I'm justified in breaking the embargo. Hope you agree. (And hopefully the Obama campaign will understand.)
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Remarks of Senator Barack Obama, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Embargoed until 10PM Eastern.
(APPLAUSE) Thank you. We began this campaign sixteen months ago on a cold day in Springfield, Illinois. Now, more than thirty million votes later, we've built a grassroots political organization, fueled by volunteers and donations from millions of Americans. After forty-eight contests, we've won 32 primaries and caucuses to Senator Clinton's 17. We've earned over sixteen million votes -- more than anyone else -- and we've won over 1,600 pledged delegates to Clinton's 1,444.
If we continued this campaign, we'd be on pace to secure a majority of delegates by May 20. Recently, we overtook Senator Clinton's lead among the superdelegates, the insiders who can -- if they choose -- overturn the will of the people. After tonight, we'd need just 145 more delegates to claim victory, less than half the number needed by Clinton.
But tonight, the people of West Virginia have spoken, and I must accept their verdict, which is that Hillary Clinton should be the next presidential nominee of the Democratic party.
I understand the historical legacy that has led to tonight's results, but I have no hard feelings. Change is not easy -- I've always understood that.
And despite efforts by other campaigns and some in the media to goad me into labeling the people of West Virginia as this or that, I understand that doing so would be divisive, counter-productive, and bad for our country. In short, it would be unpresidential.
But none of that matters now. What's important is that another 0.7% of the delegates to the Democratic National Convention have been selected, and most of them will be supporting Hillary Clinton.
Clinton, in turn, has argued that those delegates are worth more than others. There is no easy response to such a compelling argument.
Consequently, I am announcing that effective immediately, I am suspending my presidential campaign.
It's painful decision, but it's the right one, dictated by my sense of honor and duty and devotion to the democratic principles upon which this nation is founded.
I simply cannot play a role in allowing people in 99.3% of the nation to impose their will on 0.7%. To do so would be to enable mob rule. It would be un-American.
To the majority of Democratic primary voters and caucus participants who supported my candidacy, I say thank you. There's always next time. We've made some mistakes in this campaign, most of which have resulted in our wire-to-wire pledged delegate lead.
Our campaign started out with promise, when our opponent was over 40% in the polls and we were in the teens. But somewhere along the way, we lost our focus. As a result, we rose in the polls, and now we've led the field for nearly four months, putting us in the dire situation we face today.
What went wrong? I don't know. We'll figure that out another day. But for now, I say farewell, secure in the knowledge that I am doing the right thing for the Democratic Party and for the country.
We simply cannot, at this late stage in the process, allow decisions already made by the vast majority of Democratic primary voters to influence the eventual outcome of this campaign. If I stayed in the campaign, their voices would be heard, and their votes would be counted. And that would be wrong.
So I conclude tonight by wishing the best of luck to Senator Clinton. I will be there for her, fighting for her every step of the way.
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/ snark (duh!)