Undeclared senators move to Obama

Several undeclared Democratic senators announced Wednesday that they will officially back Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) as their party’s presidential nominee.

“The nominee of our party is Barack Obama. That’s clear,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who called the meeting and said a statement would be released by 1 p.m. Harkin said he did not know how many senators would join the statement.

{mosads}Harkin, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Barbara Boxer of California met for an hour this morning.

All uncommitted Senate Democrats were invited, but only those five senators were seen entering the meeting. Aides said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was invited but was not attending.

Senators said the meeting was about unifying the party after the long and often contentious primary battle between Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). The Illinois senator last night reached the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Salazar stated that Obama is the presumptive nominee and that the contest “has already been brought to a close.”

Harkin and Salazar both praised Clinton and Harkin told reporters he was confident the party would come together long before the August convention.

"This party will be united like you've never seen it before," Harkin said.

Carper pushed the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket, but acknowledged that the undecided senators’ impact on the race was now “diminished.”