AP tally: Obama effectively clinches nomination … WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.

Republicans begin to highlight Clinton's criticism of Obama  —  NEW YORK (CNN) - Hours before the polls closed Tuesday in the final two Democratic presidential primaries, the Republican National Committee began circulating a video of Hillary Clinton questioning Barack Obama's qualifications …

Pawlenty: McCain will compete for Clinton backers  —  John McCain portrayed her as a trailblazing model for aspring female politicians yesterday and now one of his top surrogates and vice-presidential prospects is taking the next natural step and promising that they'll compete for Hillary Clinton's supporters.

EXCLUSIVE: MCCAIN SPEECH TONIGHT: THE GENERAL ELECTION BEGINS  —  John McCain will launch his general election campaign against Barack Obama tonight at 9:00 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  In a speech that will praise Senator Clinton for her “tenacity and courage,” McCain will recognize Obama as the Democratic party's presumptive nominee.

Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP  —  WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton told colleagues Tuesday she would consider joining Barack Obama as his running mate, and advisers said she was withholding a formal departure from the race partly to use her remaining leverage to press for a spot on the ticket.

FOX News Exit Poll: Obama Doing Well in Montana, Clinton Strong in South Dakota  —  Barack Obama is doing well with his usual supporters in Montana and South Dakota, according to exit polls taken on Tuesday's primary day, but Hillary Clinton is still keeping a tight grip on her core groups in South Dakota.

Superdelegates surge to Obama  —  A tsunami of superdelegates is poised to rush to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over the next 12 hours, giving him a mathematical lock on his party's presidential nomination.  —  The superdelegate surge is likely to swamp a few holdouts within the camp …

FRIGHTENINGLY SAD  —  Here at TPM HQ we're watching John McCain's prebuttal to Sen. Obama's speech tonight.  —  And, man, I'm curious to hear what other people think, but I really feel like he would have served himself much better by just going to ground for the evening.

Clinton backer Feinstein says it's time to end  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — Major Hillary Clinton supporter Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday the final primaries mark a “moment of truth” for the New York senator, who should end her campaign.  —  The California senator also repeated her view …