Prominent Black Leaders Are Abandoning Clinton

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Prominent Black Leaders Are Abandoning Clinton

Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign has had a bumpy last few days: She replaced her campaign and deputy campaign managers and has lost support among women, older voters and white voters in three primaries, all in one week. But she may now be suffering her biggest loss yet: the support of Black leaders. Rep. John Lewis, an elder statesman from the civil-rights era and one of Clinton's most prominent Black supporters, said he planned to vote for Sen. Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight at the Democratic convention, reports The New York Times. Clinton, who has set her sights on Texas and Ohio, and former President Bill Clinton prepared for a new fundraising blitz to try to counter Obama's edge of several million dollars in campaign cash, reports the Times. Although Lewis said he applauded Clinton for her historic campaign, he told reporters that he and other prominent Black party leaders have been moved by Obama's recent campaign victories. Rep. David Scott of Georgia was among the first to defect, saying he will not go against the will of the voters in his district.

Student Charged With Killing Male Teen Who Dressed as Female

Prosecutors filed a charge of murder with hate-crime and firearm enhancements Thursday against a 14-year-old boy who will be tried as an adult in the school shooting of a classmate, reports The Associated Press. Brandon David McInerney shot Lawerence King in the head Tuesday morning during class at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, Calif., with more than 20 students in the room at the time, police said. King has been declared brain dead but remains on a ventilator. McInerney faces murder charges that carry a maximum penalty of 25 years to life with an additional maximum 25 years for the firearms enhancement. King, according to classmates, sometimes came to school wearing makeup and high heels.

Feminists to Clinton: You Don't Represent Us

Some leading feminists are saying a Clinton defeat would not uproot years of working for equality. This Democratic presidential nomination is not the litmus test for feminism's future, a letter to the editor in The New York Times noted. The growing sentiment among women voters who aren't particularly fond of Sen. Hillary Clinton is that they feel more empathy toward her than anything else, noted Maureen Dowd in an op-ed column. Many even note that they see double standards they hate--when male reporters described Clinton's laugh as a cackle or her voice as grating, when Rush Limbaugh goes off on her wrinkles or when male pundits seem gleeful to write her political obituary. Other critics say Clinton often aims to use gender to her advantage, or to excuse mistakes.

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