John Lewis Never Lost HopeThe congressman and civil-rights legend died on Friday. He recently spoke with Zak Cheney-Rice about why he stayed the course.
The Impeachment Option Grows DimThings could change if the administration refuses to release the full Mueller report. But in likelihood, the fight to remove Trump will move to 2020.
Who Represents MLK’s Legacy Today?Barack Obama was an heir to King’s political legacy, but it’s clear now that he didn’t occupy the Promised Land of equality, either.
Roy Moore Hasn’t Won Just YetMoore has improved his position since being hit with sexual-misconduct allegations, but African-American turnout for Doug Jones could be crucial.
Superdelegate John Lewis Is Not Not Voting for Hillary. Probably.Representative John Lewis from Georgia caused quite a fuss when the Times reported he might not vote for Hillary at the Democratic National Convention in August. Lewis “said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a superdelegate for Senator Barack Obama,” read the story, which was written by campaign vets Jeff Zeleny and Patrick Healy. But now Lewis’s office has issued a statement saying that the Times story is inaccurate. “It is plain there is a lot of enthusiasm for Barack Obama,” said Lewis’s spokesman. But “those things are observations,” not statements of preference. Jones has apparently not made up his mind yet about how he will vote, though he is taking into consideration how his constituents voted. Meanwhile, Obama has been calling him all day. Now, Lewis left things pretty open in his explanation to the Times, so the fact that he felt it necessary to issue a whole separate statement about it afterward tells us one thing: Having an irate Hillary Clinton call you on the phone must be terrifying.
Rep. Lewis: Report of delegate switch to Obama ‘not accurate’ [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Earlier: One Superdelegate Wavers, America Holds Its Breath
early and often
One Superdelegate Wavers, America Holds Its BreathThere are nearly 800 superdelegates voting in the Democratic primary, and literally hundreds of them are still undecided. There’s a lot of time before they’ll have to decide, too. So the fact that one of them has possibly switched his position shouldn’t really be a big deal, right? Ha! Don’t be ridiculous. We know by now that everything in this campaign is a big deal. So when word broke last night that Representative John Lewis (D-Georgia) either defected or is considering defecting, from the Clinton camp to the Obama camp, we knew there was a pundit tizzy in the making. Lewis is a well-known civil-rights leader and possibly Clinton’s most prominent African-American supporter. Just the fact that this is happening may be a sign that some of those early Clinton backers, especially African-Americans, are having a change of heart. Or it may just mean that one dude changed his mind. Luckily for you, there are plenty of people to decide what it means, so you don’t have to.
• Jeff Zeleny and Patrick Healy report that Representative Lewis said he could “‘never, ever do anything to reverse the action’ of the voters of his district, who overwhelmingly supported Mr. Obama.” Even if he hasn’t officially endorses yet, they write he could do so within days. [NYT]
• Mark Halperin thinks that if Representative Lewis defects to Obama, Clinton’s odds of winning the nomination will be cut in half. [Page/Time]