ABC’s Jake Tapper reports, “Senator Obama has two big endorsements — Congressman Payne, a former Clinton supporter, and Senator Defazio. That means he takes the lead with superdelegates 267 to Senator Clinton’s 265. For the first time, Barack Obama can now say he leads Hillary Clinton for the battle in the all important superdelegates and mounting odds against Clinton are taking a toll.”

This is the first time Sen. Obama has been in the superdelegate lead during this long and fractious Democratic primary.

The big news in pocketing both of these superdelegate votes is Rep. Payne who switched his vote from Clinton to Obama, calling Mrs. Clinton “a good friend” before jumping off the flat-lined Clinton campaign as Mr. Obama takes the lead in all campaign metrics; superdelegates, popular vote, and earned delegates.

“It’s now time for us to pull our party together. The quicker it’s over, the better we’ll be able to bring all of our forces together.”