There hadn't been any doubt about it for several weeks, but with his win Tuesday in the Texas primary Mitt Romney has "clinched the Republican presidential nomination," according to The Associated Press.
As NPR's S.V. Dáte explains on It's All Politics, though, Romney is still the "presumptive" nominee because if you go by the book he now has 907 "bound" delegates to the GOP convention — delegates who are required to vote for him on the first ballot. It takes 1,144 votes to be the nominee.
The AP, though, says he's "clinched" the nomination if you add in delegates that haven't yet been officially awarded, but that he almost surely won during the primary campaign.
Update at 12:05 p.m. ET. Obama Congratulates Romney.
According to the White House press office:
"At approximately 11:30 AM ET this morning, the president called Gov. Romney to congratulate him on securing the Republican nomination. President Obama said that he looked forward to an important and healthy debate about America's future, and wished Gov. Romney and his family well throughout the upcoming campaign."
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