Obama says it is.
That's right, Obama. Not Hillary. Not some "Gang of Five" consisting of Dean, Edwards, Pelosi, Reid, and Gore. Not even the superdelegates. Obama.
Start with this assumption, which you can find being asserted all over the place- that the math dictates that Obama will be the nominee.
With that assumption in place- why is Obama bothering to run against Hillary? Why did he even appear in the last debate at all (smart move not repeating that mistake)? If she attacks him- ignore her, or at the very least marginalize her with something along the lines of "I respect Senator Clinton very much and as our party's nominee I certainly hope that I will have both her respect and her endorsement". Then, start focusing on the race against McCain.
Look, Ron Paul is still in the race- you don't see McCain debating him, do you? Granted, there is a difference, in that McCain has actually already locked up a majority of his party's delegates, whereas Obama has not, and probably won't without the superdelegates. Still, this is all based on the original assumption, which is that the math will inevitably favor Obama, so ultimately the result is the same.
So, given that I have to assume that Obama and his people are much smarter than I am about these things, I am left to conclude that my initial assumption is in fact not correct. What reasons could there be? Could they fear that Michigan or Florida will ultimately be counted in some way? Or do they believe that if push comes to shove the supers really will ultimately line up behind Hillary? Or, are they just avoiding the appearance of arrogance, which could cause backlash in the remaining primaries?
If the latter, then may be what I have written above doesn't quite hold. But, still, that would only mean that Obama could not publicly declare victory himself. He could still basically ignore Hillary, start acting like the nominee, while his surrogates behind the scenes start leaking that they have concluded that they are inevitable, and have begun transitioning towards the general election. The longer he runs against her, the more opportunities for a forced error.
So, my advice, (which isn't worth the electricity expended in creating this diary, sorry Earth Day) to Obama- end it. Don't wait for Hillary, and don't wait for a bunch of waffling superdelegates. Maybe not today (boy, that would certainly make for an interesting media spin), but certainly after North Carolina (assuming he wins, even if it's narrow). If you believe you are the nominee, then start acting the part.