2008 Elections

Tuesday, Jun 3, 2008 18:03 PDT

CNN, MSNBC declare Obama presumptive nominee

As polls closed in South Dakota, the two networks made their calls, not for the state's primary, but for the nomination generally.

By Alex Koppelman

Just as polls closed in South Dakota, where residents were voting in the state's Democratic primary, both CNN and MSNBC made a call. Surprisingly, though, it wasn't about the results of the primary, but about the nomination itself -- both declared Barack Obama the presumptive Democratic nominee based on their projections of the delegate allocation from the state. The Associated Press and ABC News had each made a similar call earlier.