John Lewis says he has not decided to switch support to Obama (NYT story is false)

[ruggerson]

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/02/14/clinton_supporter_john_lewis_h.html

Confusion erupted Thursday night amid reports that a prominent African American supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's had changed his mind. Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who is also a Democratic superdelegate, was reported by the New York Times as having decided to switch his superdelegate vote from Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama after Lewis's district, around Atlanta, went for the Illinois senator.

But the Clinton campaign reported having no word from Lewis on the subject, and a spokeswoman for Lewis, Brenda Jones, said the Times story and a similar one by the Associated Press, saying he was contemplating such a switch, were inaccurate. Both the Times and AP stories quoted Lewis directly after speaking with him; he was not available for comment later Thursday. The Obama campaign also said that Lewis and Obama had not talked recently about a change of heart.

"It is plain there is a lot of enthusiasm for Barack Obama," Jones said. But, she said, "those things are observations," not statements of preference. She said Lewis has left the option of changing his superdelegate support for Clinton on the table, but made no decisions. Still, it is clear that Lewis has had misgivings about the Clinton campaign in recent weeks, especially after the racially charged campaign in South Carolina, during which former Pres. Bill Clinton was perceived to have made racially insensitive comments.

[ruggerson]

1. ....

[Seen the light]

2. Even as an Obama supporter I must say....

OH SNAP!

[MonkeyFunk]

3. Interesting...

[Egnever]

11. Indeed

Did he not tell his staff?

"the Times and AP stories quoted Lewis directly after speaking with him"

What was the quote?

[nonconformist]

4. Kick

[FrenchieCat]

5. He must have gotten "the" phone Call......

[PresidentObama]

9. Or the story was false. But keep trying.

[CreekDog]

17. Well hell, it may not have been 100% accurate, but there wasn't even faint praise for HRC

considering he hasn't changed his endorsement.

so, i wouldn't get too excited over his correction.

[Divernan]

10. My first thought too.

The NYTimes and AP can be relied on to carefully vet their stories - it's not like this came from Jason Leopold or something.

[Donnachaidh]

12. Reynolds aluminum or store brand?

:tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat: :tinfoilhat:

:eyes:

[tammywammy]

6. Interesting

[TeamJordan23]

7. It's only about time. I bet, privately, he has switched. nm

[Kahuna]

22. You got that right. Him and the rest of the CBC. If they abandon their

constituents there will be hell to pay.

[Maddy McCall]

8. OUCH.

That one stings.

[anamandujano]

13. I hope it's true but I'm prepared for the worst.

Whatever the great man decides but please go for us. :)

Go Hillary!

[dkf]

14. He's warning Hillary that her plan to win via Superdelegates is a bad idea.

[snappyturtle]

15. I think you may be right. Interesting. n/t

[Kahuna]

23. I'm sure you're right. nt

[Adelante]

24. That's what it is

He's not going along with her superdelegate plan. He will vote for Obama at the convention, because it's how his constituency voted. He also seems to have a much higher opinion of Obama and his campaign now than he had earlier when he first endorsed Clinton. But this gambit is about superdelegates deciding the election or the voters deciding it.

[my3boyz]

16. HA! As an Obama supporter I was talking about him in the last post

that said he was supporting Obama. I said he would probably flip again. I think I was right. I'm sure he was planning to do that until Bill Clinton got wind of it and made the call. Pathetic that Hillary needs Bill to make deals for her. It certainly shows who will run the white house.

[anamandujano]

18. You speculate that Bill made a call and on that you base your

assertion that Bill will be running the white house.

Obama has made mush of your minds.

[my3boyz]

21. The press has been reporting that BILL has called

the super delegates personally. I believe it! I KNOW Bill will be running the white house because he won't be able to help himself. Look at the mess he made out of her campaign because he could not help himself. He had to make her campaign about him. She could not keep a leash on him as a candidate and she sure won't be able to as president. The only reason he has shut up to a point is because South Carolina blew them away. He thought blacks would choose him over Obama because of what he did as president.

[CookCountyResident]

27. Bill has also said

that he will sit in on Cabinet meetings if asked. Of course he will! Co-presidency is in the offing.

[CookCountyResident]

26. Chelsea's making the calls

as well.

[robbedvoter]

19. NY Times does it again! (But it's OK, krugman dislikes Obama's healthcare plans)

That seems to make all the editiorials and lies against Hillsry OK - the new DU view of the media whores - see comments here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4596264

[cloudythescribbler]

20. Although there ARE differences, the spokeswoman confirmed MOST of the Times' story ... nt

[Vinca]

25. It sounds like he's considering it for sure . . . nt

[mckeown1128]

28. His mistake probably....

he should have told the Times and the AP that it was OFF THE RECORD. Since clearly they didn't take it that way.

[ruggerson]

29. ....