A Blind Squirrel?

As predicted a week ago, the pressure that must be growing on Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) to switch his support at the DNC from Hillary to Obama is starting to have an effect.

The Jeff Zeleny and Patrick Healy in the NY Times reported this morning that "Lewis said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for Senator Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention."

Lewis was quoted as saying:

'In recent days, there is a sense of movement and a sense of spirit,' said Mr. Lewis, a Georgia Democrat who endorsed Mrs. Clinton last fall. 'Something is happening in America, and people are prepared and ready to make that great leap.'

Although his spokesman apparently tried to "walk" the statement back, the reality is that Lewis, was a national civil rights leader when Bill Clinton was still playing in the high school marching band. For him to be part of the rejection -- and it would be a rejection if Obama leads in pledged (or, a word the Obama ought to be using, "earned") delegates going into the Convention -- of the first credible African-American presidential candidate by the Democratic party is untenable.

The reality is that Hillary needs significantly more than a simple majority of the delegates (2,025) to win; there are many superdelegates currently pledged to Clinton whose district -- or state -- has supported, or will likely be supporting, Obama. Moreover, if Hillary wins the nomination but does not win the general election, her political career (at least at the Presidential level) will be over. Obama is a young man, and will have a future (despite Michelle Robinson Obama's past statements to the contrary.)

For John Lewis to be vote #2025 for Hillary in Denver is hard to see.