Lewis Switches His Support to Obama

After a month of shifting signals, influential congressman John Lewis said today he’s switching his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Lewis says he’s unwilling to go against the voters in his Atlanta district—and that Obama “has tapped into something that is extraordinary.” The civil-rights leader irked local African-Americans by lining up behind Clinton early.

The New York Times reported last week that Lewis was switching his superdelegate vote, something the congressman denied at the time. Today, he said he picked Clinton first “because of our friendship”—and added of Obama, “Something’s happening in America, something some of us did not see coming.” Lewis described the decision-making process as "a long, hard and difficult struggle." (More John Lewis stories.)