Some Congressional Dems won't endorse Obama

Here is some interesting news. I was in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District on the day of the special election last month. Democrat Travis Childers won that race in the heavily Republican district. His Republican opponent ran commercials--I heard the radio version a dozen times that day, tying Childers to Barack Obama and the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Childers' victory was viewed as a rebuke to the strategy of running against Obama in Congressional races. As they often are, maybe the experts were wrong, as Politico reports:

Rep. Travis Childers, elected just weeks ago in a Mississippi special election, hasn't endorsed anyone in the presidential race yet. "We have had our head down at work, trying to get our feet on the ground up here," said Childers' chief of staff, Brad Morris. "The presidential politics just has not been on our mind."

Another Democrat representing a conservative district is Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina. The former Washington Redskins quarterback knows something about running away from trouble--he has not endorsed Obama either.

Rep. Heath Shuler, a freshman Democrat from right-leaning North Carolina, has also been too busy to endorse. After Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried his district in the North Carolina primary, Shuler said he would cast his superdelegate vote for her at the Democratic convention.

Now that Clinton is out of the race? "We've gone back to his work up there in the House," said Shuler spokesman Andrew Whalen. "We're not really too focused on the presidential [race]."

More...

A spokesman for Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) told Politico on Thursday that Mahoney will remain neutral. So will Rep. Jim Marshall, a Democrat in a conservative Georgia district. Marshall didn't endorse Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004, and he won’t endorse anyone this year, either. "Jim, as a rule, doesn’t get involved in other people’s campaigns," said spokesman Doug Moore.

Louisiana Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon has yet to endorse Obama. Until Thursday, neither had newly elected Louisiana Rep. Don Cazayoux. "Since coming to office, it has been Rep. Cazayoux's position to let the presidential primary process play out, which it has," said Cazayoux spokesman Lewis Lowe. "Now that Sen. Obama is the presumptive nominee, Rep. Cazayoux looks forward to working with him to improve the economy and increase access to quality health care for all Americans."

Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK) has already told the Associated Press that he won't be endorsing Obama.

Politico notes that two Republicans--Republicans in Name Only in my opinion, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and onetime presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas, have not endorsed John McCain. No big loss, in my opinion, if those two stay on the sidelines.

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