Jimmy Carter backs Barack to run

Jimmy Carter has signalled that he is backing Barack Obama. While the former US president has not officially endorsed the Democratic Party frontrunner, he has made it clear where his sympathies lie. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Carter talked of Obama's potential to "transform the image" of the United States should he become the country's first black President. He also called for the bitter Democratic nomination battle to end on June 3, when the final primaries will be held in South Dakota and Montana.

Clinton is unlikely to win in either states and is therefore counting on the Democrats' superdelegates to promote her "electability" against Republican candidate John McCain. As the most distinguished of some 300 uncommitted superdelegates, Carter's support for Obama is seen as a severe blow to Clinton.

"I don't see any reason at all to continue after June 3 when we know who got the most [pledged] delegates, who got the most popular votes, who won the most states and so forth,” said Carter, 83.

Carter knows from personal experience that a long and acrimonious campaign can be damaging to the Democrats. In 1980 he lost to Ronald Reagan after supporters of his rival Democratic nominee, Edward Kennedy, refused to back him.