Making it clear that she will not allow any convention challenges by the Clinton campaign, Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the nomination race will be over before the middle of June:
Pelosi predicted Wednesday that a presidential nominee will emerge in the week after the final Democratic primaries on June 3, but she said "I will step in" if there is no resolution by late June regarding the seating of delegates from Florida and Michigan, the two states that defied party rules by holding early primaries.
"Because we cannot take this fight to the convention," she said. "It must be over before then."
Pelosi made the comments during a wide-ranging hourlong session with The Chronicle's editorial board. She talked about the prospects for the election of a Democratic president this fall, the legacy of President Bush and the California Supreme Court's ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The speaker talked in depth about the party's dilemma as its primary process comes to a close after Sunday's Puerto Rico primary, in which 55 delegates are at stake, and Tuesday's South Dakota and Montana primaries, in which 33 total delegates are up for grabs.
Also, it appears that the party is ready to give Florida and Michigan half the delegates they would normally be entitled to when the Rules Committee meets this Saturday. This ends any chance at all that Hillary Clinton could close the gap significantly with Obama in the number of delegates.
It is hard to see how Clinton continues her campaign once Obama has gone over the top. It is likely once that happens, that a wholesale exodus of Superdelegates from her camp will take place and she will have no choice but to concede the nomination to Obama.
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