Capps Endorses Obama

Congresswoman Lois Capps, a Democratic party superdelegate, broke months of suspenseful silence to announce that she is endorsing Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination. Capps explained her decision, saying Obama would help counter the culture of demonization that now consumes so much of national politics. In her press statement, Capps said both Obama and Hillary Clinton would make “great” presidents, but said Obama was the “better choice.” Capps had hoped not to involve herself as a super delegate, preferring that one of the candidates would have emerged more decisively by now. For Capps, the tug of war between the two contenders was personal as well as political. Both Hillary and Bill Clinton campaigned actively on behalf of Lois’s husband Walter Capps, when he ran successfully for Congress. (When he died before his first term expired, Lois Capps ran for his seat and won.) And Capps’s daughter, Laura Capps, worked in the Clinton White House. But Laura Capps is now married to Obama’s communication director. While Clinton won California’s February primary, Obama narrowly won in Santa Barbara and throughout Capps’ congressional district. Capps was one of three super delegates to announce support for Obama this Wednesday. While Clinton still enjoys a lead in the number of publicly pledged super delegates, that gap is narrowing. Obama is ahead by 135 in the delegate count.