Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nominating contest in Puerto Rico yesterday, but still badly trails front-runner Barack Obama as he draws closer to clinching the party's presidential nomination.

Mrs Clinton's win in Puerto Rico, a territory that has 55 delegates to the August nominating convention but is not allowed to vote in the November election, gave her more fuel for her argument that she is the best Democrat to face Republican John McCain.

But the results pushed Mr Obama closer to the magic number of 2,118 delegates needed to become the nominee, and the Illinois senator already has turned his attention to a general election fight with Mr McCain.

Two contests tomorrow in Montana and South Dakota, with 31 pledged delegates at stake, conclude the voting in the Democratic presidential race.

Before the Puerto Rico vote, Mr Obama was about 70 delegates shy of clinching the nomination. He probably will still be short tomorrow, but could reach the total quickly with the help of some of the approximately 180 uncommitted superdelegates - party officials who can back any candidate.

Mr Obama cleared a significant hurdle on Saturday when a party committee dealt Mrs Clinton a blow by seating the disputed Michigan and Florida convention delegations at half-strength.

The decision by the rules committee was a victory for Mr Obama, preventing Mrs Clinton from significantly cutting his delegate lead. Mrs Clinton had won both disputed contests and demanded the delegations be seated at full voting strength.

"Now that Michigan and Florida have been added, we are getting close to the number that will give us the nomination," Mr Obama said in South Dakota after the rules committee meeting.

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