Senator Barack Obama is expected to win enough delegates in today’s primaries in Kentucky and Oregon to clinch a majority of pledged delegates awarded in the primaries and caucuses. But Obama will still be short of the total number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination outright. On Monday, Obama spoke at a campaign rally in Billings, Montana.

Sen. Barack Obama: “Everybody’s surprised that I’m standing here. Nobody thought — [Someone in the crowd says “We’re not”) — you know, now, well, I appreciate you, but let’s face it, nobody thought a forty-six-year-old black guy named Barack Obama was going to be the Democratic nominee.”

Obama’s campaign is denying reports that he will declare victory tonight at a rally in Iowa. During a campaign stop in Maysville, Kentucky, Senator Hillary Clinton said the race for the nomination is not over.

Sen. Hillary Clinton: “We have a very close contest — the votes, the delegates — and this is nowhere near over. None of us is going to have the number of delegates we’re going to need to get to the nomination, although I understand my opponent and his supporters are going to claim that. The fact is we have to include Michigan and Florida.”

Barack Obama continues to pick up prominent endorsements. On Monday, he received the backing of five more superdelegates, including Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the longest serving member of the US Senate.