Top US civil rights icon dumps Clinton for Obama

Civil rights icon John Lewis has defected from Clinton to Obama, in a hugely symbolic blow to the former first lady's White House campaign.

Civil rights icon and Democratic Party elder John Lewis has defected from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, in a hugely symbolic blow to the former first lady’s White House campaign.

The 68-year-old Democratic “superdelegate” made his decision after a period of public agonizing, but said he wanted to be on the side of history.

“John Lewis is an American hero and a giant of the civil rights movement, and I am deeply honoured to have his support,” Obama said in a statement on Wednesday.

The veteran Georgia congressman is one of the 795 party luminaries and lawmakers who can vote how they like at the party convention and may have a vital say in sealing the presidential nomination.

Buoyed by his wins in 11 nominating contests in a row, Obama has eroded Clinton’s lead in the superdelegate count heading into pivotal nominating contests on Tuesday in Texas and Ohio.

“Something is happening in America,” Lewis said on Wednesday.

“There is a movement, there is a spirit, there is an enthusiasm in the hearts and minds of the American people that I have not seen in a long time, since the (1968) candidacy of Robert Kennedy,” he said.

“The people are pressing for a new day in American politics, and I think they see Senator Barack Obama as a symbol of that change.”

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Lewis said he had a “deep and abiding love” for Clinton and her husband, ex-president Bill Clinton, and said the New York senator was a “brilliant and capable candidate.”