As voting opened in the primaries of South Dakota and Montana on Tuesday, scores of Democratic super delegates were apparently still undecided whether to back Barack Obama, who is on the verge of scripting history by becoming the first African-American Presidential nominee, or Hillary Clinton.

46-year-old Obama and his supporters were urging some 200 uncommitted super delegates to make their preferences known immediately, after the close of South Dakota and Montana primaries, so that the party could devote full energy to the election campaign.

Obama is currently 45 delegates short of the magic figure of 2,118. According to the Obama campaign, he would require only about 25 super delegates after results from South Dakota and Montana are out, which will not be difficult to garner.

Though the uncommitted super delegates' holding out may not change the outcome with Obama within a striking distance of clinching the nomination, this would show the scars left by the vicious campaigns that Obama and Hillary Clinton ran.

Most of the super delegates holding out were said to be from the districts won by President George W Bush [Images] in the previous election and where 60-year-old Clinton presented the only hope to sway the voters to Democratic camp.

Much would depend on what Clinton decides. If she declares her intention to drop out, it might be easier for these super delegates to declare their support. Otherwise, at least some of them could go uncommitted to the August convention in Denver, which is to finally select the nominee.

With only 31 delegates between them, today's primaries in South Dakota and Montana would not be a deciding factor in the race and super delegates would need to weigh in.

The Wall Street journal calculated that about 50 Congressmen are uncommitted, including two dozen freshmen who are among the Republicans' top targets. An endorsement is dangerous until they can calculate Obama's effect on their own
races, it quoted analysts as saying.

Obama and his supporters were working over phones to get endorsement from enough super delegates so that he could declare victory at the close of the two primaries, which is expected early on Wednesday.

A despondent Clinton's campaign was reconciling to a defeat in the delegate count though the former first lady gave no indication of quitting the race. She has adopted a wait and watch policy.

"I'm just very grateful that we kept this campaign going until South Dakota would have the last word," she said.

Her husband and key campaigner former President Bill Clinton [Images], however, strongly suggested that she might drop out while lashing out at the media for its 'biased' coverage of Obama. "This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind," he said.

Some analysts said Clinton would be watching whether Obama is able to get enough delegates to win the nomination and would then decide her course of action.