Shortly after midnight East Coast time, the two candidates spoke by telephone. Obama told Clinton he would like to "sit down when it makes sense for you," according to Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs. Clinton thanked Obama for the call, Gibbs said, but no meeting was set.
The general election will pit the 46-year-old Obama against the 71-year-old McCain -- a generational contest between one of the youngest men ever to seek the White House and one of the oldest.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday, June 05, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 55 words Type of Material: Correction
Democratic delegates: A graphic in some editions of Wednesday's Section A contained inaccurate delegate totals. A corrected version appears on A16 today. Also, a map showing the state-by-state victories of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton wrongly depicted Massachusetts going to Obama and Connecticut and Delaware going to Clinton. In fact, the reverse is true.
The two candidates also have starkly different views on issues, not least the war in Iraq. McCain says that the United States is winning there and that pulling out would only embolden America's enemies. Obama says the war was a mistake from the start and has pledged to begin withdrawing troops as soon as he takes office.
McCain brought up the war in a prime-time speech he delivered outside New Orleans, just before Clinton and Obama spoke. He accused Obama of voting "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq -- referring to a 2007 war-funding bill that Obama opposed because it lacked a timetable for troop withdrawal.
McCain agreed that the presidential race would focus on change. "But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change," he said, "between going forward and going backward."
Obama's improbable rise from underdog to victor caps a primary season that will be long remembered for its firsts -- Obama bidding to become the nation's first black president, Clinton the first female chief executive -- and for a series of dramatic contests that captivated the country like no political race in memory.
It pit a relative neophyte, who burst on the national scene as a U.S. Senate candidate, delivering a ringing keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, against a former first lady married to the most successful Democratic politician of his generation.
Tens of millions of voters turned out for primaries and caucuses, shattering records in one state after another, and millions more tuned in election night to watch the returns, boosting TV ratings and turning presidential politics into a new national pastime.
Obama began with an important win Jan. 3 in Iowa. Clinton, her campaign in the balance, rallied to take New Hampshire five days later. The two split the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses -- Clinton winning the popular vote, Obama getting the most delegates -- then Obama seized the momentum a week later with a big win in South Carolina.
