Five days that will shake US race
BBC News, Washington
Stop me if you've heard this one before - but the race for the Democratic presidential nomination could be coming to an end in a few days' time.
 Will Mr Obama be able to claim victory next week? |
By 4 June, we are likely to have answers to two of the most important questions that have been hanging over the race, and spreading uncertainty.
We should learn definitively which candidate has won the most elected delegates - the delegates who get distributed between candidates, according to the results of primary and caucus votes.
And we may well find out whether the delegates awarded from the disputed primaries in Michigan and Florida will be allowed to take their seats - and cast their votes - at the party's presidential nominating convention in August.
On Saturday, party officials on the Rules and Bylaws Committee are meeting in an attempt to settle the Michigan and Florida issue.
 | KEY DATES 31 May: Rules and Bylaws Committee meets 1 June: Puerto Rico primary 3 June: Montana/South Dakota primaries |
The states had their delegates stripped from them because they broke party rules by holding their primaries before 5 February.
Mrs Clinton wants this decision reversed.
She says that not doing so would upset voters in Michigan and Florida - states which the Democrats need to win in November.
Coincidentally, seating the delegations would also give Mrs Clinton a significant boost in delegate numbers.
She won both states handily, helped perhaps by the fact that none of the candidates campaigned in either state and that - in Michigan - many of her rivals, including Barack Obama, were not on the ballot.
The Rules and Bylaws Committee is unlikely to seat the delegations in full, for fear of sending a message that states can disobey rules without facing sanctions.
But it may well agree with the Clinton camp that a full ban could leave voters in these key swing-states disenchanted.
Unpredictable
Experts say the most likely outcome will be a compromise, with the two states' delegations losing half of their voting power - either by having 50% of their delegates removed, or by giving each delegate only half a vote at the convention.
So, the meeting on 31 May could put to rest one of the big imponderables hanging over the campaign.
Next, on 1 June, Democrats in the US territory of Puerto Rico will vote in a primary.
 All eyes will be on Mrs Clinton once the primaries finish |
The vote will be one of the least predictable contests so far in the campaign.
Very little polling has been done, and observers have no idea what the turnout might be, because the island has never before held a contest when the nomination was still undecided.
What polling there has been suggests that Mrs Clinton will win here.
Finally, on 3 June, we will reach a genuine milestone - the last primaries of the campaign will be held in South Dakota and Montana.
Mr Obama has done well in neighbouring states, and is thought likely to win here as well.
A flood of endorsements
So, assuming the Michigan/Florida problem has been solved, in the morning of 4 June we will know conclusively which of the two candidates has won the most elected delegates.
|  We're going to urge folks to make a decision quickly - next week  Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, on 29 May  |
And although neither candidate is expected to be able to win the nomination based on elected delegates alone, a number of the remaining undecided super-delegates - senior party officials who get a vote at the convention by virtue of their position - have vowed to endorse whichever candidate wins more elected delegates.
They will no longer have a strong reason to delay their choice.
For this reason, experts predict that on 4 June a flood of super-delegate endorsements will occur, with the vast majority of them going to the candidate who will have won more elected delegates - Mr Obama.
In fact, Mr Obama has already won a majority of elected delegates - but only if the delegations from Florida and Michigan are not counted.
"We're going to urge folks to make a decision quickly - next week," Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told a San Francisco radio station on 29 May.
But the race will only really be dead and buried if one of the candidates drops out.
So if Mr Obama is able to claim an overall majority of delegates once the remaining super-delegates have declared their hand, all eyes will be on Mrs Clinton.
She could decide to prolong the race, either by appealing against the Michigan/Florida decision, or by reminding us that super-delegates can change their minds at any time between now and the convention.
And if she comes out of 3 June with a lead in the overall popular vote, she may continue efforts to persuade the super-delegates to back her as "the people's choice".
But if she decides - or if someone she trusts tells her - that the game is really up, then the race could finally be over.
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