Black superdelegates under pressure to support Obama
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri said Thursday that black Democratic superdelegates who support Sen. Hillary Clinton have been bludgeoned verbally to prod them to switch to Sen. Barack Obama.
Cleaver, who is African-American and a superdelegate, has backed Clinton since last summer and this week re-emphasized that support. He said that he himself has not been pressured, but that black superdelegates from all over the country have been harassed, threatened with primary opponents and called “Uncle Tom.â€
He said they have been told, Youre not black if youre not supporting Barack Obama. It is ugly.
He speculated that he has escaped the pressure because, although Obama won the Missouri primary, he only defeated Clinton narrowly. With crucial primaries looming Tuesday, the intensity of the pressure became evident this week when Georgia Rep. John Lewis left the Clinton camp and sided with Obama. Lewis, an elder of the civil rights movement, faced a challenge for his seat from an Atlanta minister upset over his refusal to support Obama.
Cleaver made similar remarks about the pressure on superdelegates Thursday night to The Politico Web site. The Politico talked to other African-American superdelegates, who also said they would remain firm in the face of such pressure rather than switch to Obama.Come on people …you really didn’t think that this would not turn into a race campaign Did you?
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