Capps gives superdelegate nod to Obama

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Rep. Lois Capps announced yesterday her coveted superdelegate vote would go to Sen. Barack Obama, who she said was “the best choice” for America’s next president.
“This wasn’t an easy decision for me,” she said in a prepared statement. “But Sen. Obama’s proven judgment, his hopeful vision for America, and his unmatched ability to motivate millions of Americans eager for change made the choice for me.”

Capps, a democrat who prior to being elected to congress was a nurse for the Santa Barbara School District, is one of 794 superdelegates whose endorsements are required to become the democratic presidential nominee.
According to Democratic Convention Watch, a Web site that regularly updates the tally of delegates and superdelegates, Sen. Hillary Clinton is leading the superdelegate race with 261 endorsements compared to Obama’s 242.
Under superdelegates rules, Capps could have endorsed whichever candidate she preferred, regardless of the way her constituency voted in California’s Feb. 5 primary election.
As it is, Capps’ decision to back Obama fell in line with the voters in the 23rd Congressional District, which narrowly favored the Illinois senator by 47.8 percent compared to Clinton’s 46.1 percent.
In Santa Barbara County, which makes up much of Capps’ district, 51.07 percent of the voters chose Obama compared to 41.8 percent for Clinton.
A spokeswoman in Capps’ Washington D.C. office said the congresswoman, “Endeavors to represent the will of her constituents as best she can but ultimately this was a decision of conscious for her and she decided to support Obama’s candidacy and his message of hope and change.”
Former Second District County Supervisor Susan Rose, an organizer for the group Santa Barbarans for Hillary, said Capps called her yesterday morning to inform her of the endorsement.
“I do appreciate that,” Rose said. “[But] of course I’m disappointed. There is a great amount of support for Hillary in the state of California, so I was hoping our congresswoman would have taken that path.”
Clinton convincingly won the state of California by netting 51.8 percent of the vote, while Obama took in 42.9 percent, according to the state’s election Web site.
Rose, who is a delegate for the Democratic Party, said Clinton’s political history and ability to successfully get legislation approved are some of the reasons she’s backed the New York senator.
“I know how difficult it is to effect change and she has done that,” Rose said. “That’s what I want for my next president. We’re looking at who can be the best next president.”
Capps credited Clinton for being a, “champion of those often underserved and forgotten,” and acknowledged the former first lady’s “remarkable record of achievement that inspires us all.”
“Her election would fulfill a life long dream for so many of us who have been fighting for women’s rights,” Capps said. “She would make a great president.”
But Capps said her decision to stand behind Obama was based on a number of things, including his decision to not support going to war with Iraq, his eloquence, and ability to reconnect the American people to politics.
“These are all true and good reasons, but I also believe Barack Obama is the better choice because of something larger and perhaps more important,” she said. “Simply put, he has made a call to the better angels of our nature. He is challenging us to lift ourselves out of the ugliness that increasingly consumes Washington, where the heat of your argument counts for more than the light it should bring.”
Capps has connections to both campaigns. According to the Web site www.politico.com, former President Bill Clinton provided support and raised money for both Capps and her late husband, Rep. Walter Capps. The Web site says Capps’ daughter, Laura Burton Capps, was an advisor in the Clinton White House in the mid 1990s and was later a speechwriter.
Capps’ tie to Obama is more personal. The Web site says Obama’s national press secretary, Bill Burton, is married to Burton Capps.
Obama said in a prepared statement that he was honored to have Capps’ support and credited her work as a school nurse.
“I look forward to fighting alongside her in the months ahead to finally make universal health care a reality, strengthen our economy, and bring about real change for the people of California and for all Americans,” Obama said.
Capps said part of her decision to support Obama is based on a motto her late husband lived by, which was: “We are strongest as people when we are directed by which unites us, rather than giving into the fears, suspicions, innuendos and paranoias that divide.”
“For years I have been waiting for a president that speaks to that vision,” she said. “I believe Barack Obama may very well be that rare leader.”