Like I said before, if Obama wins HI and WI, and then goes on to take either Ohio or Texas, its over. WaPo:
African American members of Congress, many under enormous pressure from their constituents, are grappling with the question of whether they should abandon their support of Hillary Rodham Clinton and back Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
On Thursday, Rep. John Lewis (Ga.), a civil rights icon who endorsed Clinton last fall, wavered publicly in his backing of her after a series of private conversations with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). He and his aides declined yesterday to say whether he had formally withdrawn his endorsement or plans to support Obama in his role as a Democratic superdelegate, but colleagues said such doubts are echoing throughout the CBC."A lot of members who made commitments a year ago based on prevailing thought are having some real trepidations," said Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.), who has remained neutral in the race.
Clyburn, a senior member of the House leadership, said he had spoken to numerous CBC colleagues in recent weeks who have questioned their support of Clinton.
"It's emotionally a problem for all of us," he said, adding that he had dreamed of a black president decades ago when he was a civil rights activist. "This is a moment I thought about sitting in a Columbia jail in 1961."
But Obama needs to continue to rack up wins through March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas before a large number of black lawmakers who back Clinton will switch sides, Clyburn said. "After that, if current trends hold, then you'll see movement," he predicted...
One turning point, many CBC members said, was Obama's overwhelming victory in Virginia on Tuesday, in which he beat Clinton 50 percent to 49 percent among white voters overall and won white males by an even larger margin -- 55 percent to 43 percent -- according to exit polls. "That was the last thing that black leaders thought -- that Obama would be the stronger candidate among white men in a Southern state, the group that had been the most resistant to their agenda," Bositis said.
Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), an Obama backer and one of the younger CBC members, predicted that his colleagues will eventually abandon Clinton because they will not want to "be on the wrong side of history," but also because of their own political interests.
"Members have to decide whether they are going to stand in the way," Davis said, warning that even longtime lawmakers could see their decisions translate into a primary challenge at home.
"Different members have to make that calculation on political terms," he said. "Some of those members have to stand in front of those constituents and explain" their support for Clinton. "Those are powerful pressures."
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