-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Despite Hillary Clinton 's landslide victory in Kentucky , Barack Obama has won a majority of pledged delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination . Clinton won Kentucky by more than 30 points , but Obama 's share of the state 's 51 delegates was enough put him over the threshold , according to CNN estimates . Obama is expected to pick up at least 14 delegates in Kentucky , and by CNN estimates , that will give him 1,627 of the 3,253 pledged delegates at stake in all of primaries and caucuses . Obama will also pick up a win in Oregon , CNN projects , giving him the larger share of the state 's 52 delegates . Obama 's top strategist , David Axelrod , said getting the pledged delegate majority was an `` important milestone , '' but not the end of the trail . Neither candidate is expected to reach the 2,026 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination . That means the race is likely to be settled by `` superdelegates '' -- party leaders and officials who will cast votes at the Democratic convention in August . Speaking in Iowa , where he won the first-in-the-nation caucuses , Obama told supporters , `` it was in this great state where we took the first steps of an unlikely journey to change America . '' Watch Obama say he 's in reach of the nomination '' `` The skeptics predicted we would n't get very far . The cynics dismissed us as a lot of hype and a little too much hope . And by the fall , the pundits in Washington had all but counted us out . But the people of Iowa had a different idea , '' he said . Obama continued to look to the general election , focusing his attacks as he has for the past week on Sen. John McCain , while commending Clinton for `` her courage , her commitment and her perseverance . '' Obama said McCain 's policies do n't represent change . `` This year 's Republican primary was a contest to see which candidate could out-Bush the other , and that is the contest John McCain won , '' he said . McCain 's camp accused Obama of launching `` the tired old political attacks of a typical politician , not the ` new politics ' he 's promised . '' `` Without a doubt , Barack Obama is a talented political orator , but his naive plans for unconditional summits with rogue leaders and support for big tax hikes on hardworking families expose his bad judgment that Americans can ill-afford in our next president , '' spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement . After Kentucky 's results came in , Clinton thanked her supporters for handing her a win `` even in the face of some pretty tough odds . '' `` Tonight we have achieved an important victory , '' she said in Louisville . `` It 's not just Kentucky bluegrass that 's music to my ears . It 's the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence even in the face of some pretty tough odds . '' Watch Clinton vow to keep going '' Clinton beat Obama across all age groups , income groups and education levels in Kentucky . Eighty-nine percent of Tuesday 's voters in Kentucky were white , according to the exit polls . Among them , Clinton won 72-22 percent . Nine percent of the voters were African-American and they overwhelmingly broke for Obama , 87-7 percent . The exit polls from Kentucky also suggest a deep division among Democrats . Watch how Clinton 's win could affect the race '' Two-thirds of Clinton 's supporters there said they would vote Republican or not vote at all rather than for Obama , according to the polls . Forty-one percent of Clinton supporters said they 'd cast their vote for McCain , and 23 percent said they would not vote at all . Just 33 percent said they would back Obama in the general election , according to the polls . Those numbers are even worse for Obama than in West Virginia one week ago , where 36 percent of Clinton voters said they would back him in the fall . Obama on Tuesday downplayed the idea that his party will have trouble unifying once there is a nominee . `` Some may see the millions upon millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence that our party is divided , but I see it as proof that we have never been more energized and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction , '' he said . `` More than anything , we need this unity and this energy in the months to come , because while our primary has been long and hard-fought , the hardest and most important part of our journey still lies ahead . '' Obama leads Clinton in the number of states won and in the popular vote in the primary and caucus contests this campaign season , but he has been careful not to declare victory in the Democratic contest . Obama does n't have enough delegates to capture the nomination outright ; Clinton still has a chance , if a slight one , to win the nomination if enough of the roughly 800 superdelegates were to back her . `` I 'm going to make -LSB- my case -RSB- until we have a nominee , but we 're not going to have one today , and we 're not going to have one tomorrow , and we 're not going to have one the next day , '' Clinton said Monday in Kentucky . She argues that she leads in the popular vote , but her argument is debatable . For Clinton to claim such a lead , primary states but not caucus states -- which Obama mostly won -- would only be counted , plus the popular vote totals in Florida and Michigan . Florida and Michigan were stripped of their delegates for scheduling their primaries too early , in violation of Democratic Party rules . Obama 's name was n't on the Michigan ballot , and he received no votes in that state 's contest . Clinton also argues that she 's won the states that she contends would stack up stronger against McCain in the general election . `` The states I 've won total 300 electoral votes . If we had the same rules as the Republicans , I would be nominee right now , '' she said . `` We have different rules , so what we 've got to figure out is who can win 270 electoral votes . My opponent has won states totaling 217 electoral votes . '' CNN 's Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report .