An internal Barack Obama campaign memo is warning that a premature declaration of victory could further alienate the Democratic front-runner from supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

The memo, obtained by The Hill, indicates the Illinois senator should resist proclaiming himself the winner before June 3, even though he will likely capture the overall majority of pledged delegates Tuesday night, and even made clear that Clinton has the right to continue.

“No, he isn’t,” the memo reads. “The only thing he’s going to be declaring is that he’s won a majority of the pledged delegates. But that is a significant marker. The delegate count is the measure of this race, and it looks like Tuesday night we’ll be at a point where more than half of those pledged delegates have been awarded to Obama — reflecting the preference of a clear majority of the voters. But this primary race will continue as long as Sen. Clinton remains in the race — as she has every right to do.”

The Clinton campaign reacted harshly to reports that Obama would proclaim himself the winner Tuesday night, calling such talk a “slap in the face” to those who have voted for Clinton and those who haven’t voted yet. And one senior aide appears to have drawn a connection between Obama and President Bush, using an infamous phrase tied to the president and his Iraq policy.

“Premature victory laps and false declarations of victory are unwarranted,” Howard Wolfson, a senior Clinton adviser, said in a widely circulated memo. “Declaring mission accomplished does not make it so.”

Wolfson noted that Obama cannot hit either magic number — 2,210 pledged delegates including Florida and Michigan or 2,026 without the two states — after Tuesday night’s contests in Oregon and Kentucky.

Obama is heavily favored to win Oregon, but he is a serious underdog in Kentucky.

“Kentucky voters simply aren’t as familiar with Sen. Obama — but just as we’ve seen in other states, as voters have gotten to know Sen. Obama, we have seen increased support and excitement,” the internal memo says.

But by early Monday afternoon, Obama was only 16 pledged delegates away from winning an “absolute majority,” David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, said in a note to supporters.

Regardless, one Democratic strategist who is supporting Obama said he does not anticipate any declarations of victory in Iowa Tuesday night. The campaign is sensitive to the raw nerves of female voters who could react negatively to any perception that Obama is trying to push Clinton out of the race, he said.

“The last thing you want to do is pour some salt on the wound,” the strategist said.

To that end, the Obama campaign has included in its surrogate talking points ways to respond to questions about Clinton looking for some kind of deal regarding either a spot on the ticket or assistance in retiring her massive campaign debt.

“Q: Doesn’t it seem like Sen. Clinton is only staying in the race so that she can negotiate a deal for herself — help with her debt, or a spot on the ticket?” the memo says.

“A: I can’t speculate as to Sen. Clinton’s motives. She’s a tough campaigner and it’s her right to stay in this race. I can say that we have not had any conversations with their campaign about any kind of quid pro quo or the timing of the decisions she’ll have to make.”

The Democratic strategist said there is no longer a great deal of concern among Obama supporters that Clinton will continue to bruise Obama ahead of a general-election fight against presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

“Her rhetoric has dropped down to almost nothing in terms of her attacking him,” the strategist said.

Instead, Clinton has focused her message on her economic plans and hits on McCain.

The conventional wisdom has completely hardened in the past week that Clinton’s underperformance in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries effectively crowned Obama the nominee.

Despite that consensus, Clinton has continued to campaign with unflagging resolve, and her advisers have said she could well stay in past the last contests on June 3 unless a resolution is found to how to deal with the delegates from Florida and Michigan.