Rahm: Obama the 'presumptive nominee'

Rahm Emanuel -- hard-charging Illinois congressman, Clinton White House veteran, and one of the most influential leaders in the Democratic Party -- has spoken. Emanuel, who has remained noncommittal throughout the primary, said today that the contest is all but decided.

"At this point, Barack is the presumptive nominee," he said at a conference sponsored by The New Yorker magazine, according to The Huffington Post. "Hillary can't win but something could happen that Barack could lose the nomination."

Emanuel refused to say, though, that Clinton should drop out, saying "Next question!" when asked. But he warned Clinton not to damage the party in the coming weeks.

"What Hillary does in the next month is important," he said. "If she spends her time contrasting with Senator McCain, drawing distinctions that help the Democratic Party, that's productive. If it's done in another way, that's not productive."

Read the full HuffPost story here.