May I suggest the same here?  If anyone has earned the benefit of the doubt, it is Lewis.  Suggestions that he wilted under the pressure are jaw-dropping to me.  Lewis knows real pressure when he sees it, and he has a long track record of standing up to it.

1. Support Hillary
   
2. Then get pressure to change
   
3. Then say he's neutral
   
4. Then get a primary challenger
   
5. Then switch support to Obama

John Lewis, a Freedom Rider from the 60's may have looked at his battered ol' duffel bag and recalled the many times he was arrested working under threats of harm in the battle for civil rights.

Jeralyn, you probably didn't know this, but the person Lewis gave this story to, the first reporter he's talked to on record since this whole debacle began, is Monica Pearson, an Atlanta news icon for (at least) thirty years and a very well-connected aa woman.  She is also incredibly close to our mayor, Shirley Franklin--she of the "this is not a fairy tale" remark aimed directly at Bill Clinton while they were both at Ebenezer Baptist over the MLK holiday.

Wikipedia

On October 5, 1963, Zinn began an article called "The Battle-Scarred Youngsters" in The Nation in this way:

Standing at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, John Lewis turned his wrath, not at the easy target, the Dixiecrats, but against the Administration.... To many, the March had been presented as a gigantic lobby for the Administration's Civil Rights Bill, but Lewis pointed quickly, unerringly, to the weaknesses in the bill. Furthermore, by sponsoring a new civil-rights bill, the Administration had skillfully turned attention to Congress, and deflected the erratic spotlight of the civil-rights movement from possibly focusing on inadequacies of the Executive. The straight, crass fact at which John Lewis was aiming is this: the national government, without any new legislation, has the power to protect Negro voters and demonstrators from policemen's clubs, hoses and jails--and it has not used that power.

Lewis is, according to the Associated Press, "the first major House figure to suggest impeaching George W. Bush," arguing that the president "deliberately, systematically violated the law" in authorizing the National Security Agency to conduct wiretaps without a warrant. Lewis said, "He is not King, he is president."

Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, who was a key leader in the civil rights efforts of the 1960s, said he was an early supporter of Bill Clinton and admired his wife, but called Obama "refreshing" and said he would back him.

AJC previewed this happening a week ago: John Lewis no longer groovy? Hutchins to oppose him:

The Rev. Markel Hutchins will announce today that he's going to oppose Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta in the Democratic primary this July, saying the civil rights icon who has represented the city in Congress for two decades is un-hip.

Hutchins, who calls himself the "next generation civil rights activist," will make his announcement at 5:30 p.m. on the bridge near the Richard Russell Federal Building, 75 Spring Street SW.

Hutchins, 30, is pitching his campaign as a generational changing of the guard and himself as the youthful face of the Hip-Hop generation, with which, he said, Lewis is out of touch. The race, he said, is a choice between "the generation that started the movement to the one poised to continue it."

As evidence of a gap between Lewis and young, civic-minded activists, Hutchins points to Lewis' decision to back Sen. Hillary Clinton instead of Sen. Barack Obama in the presidential race even though Obama is the first truly viable African American to run for president and the overwhelming favorite in Georgia's Democratic primary this month.

Hutchins characterized Lewis' choice of Clinton as a "decision to separate himself from his own electorate."

...

1. They're caving (strange charge to make against a fearless civil rights leader).
   
2. They're AA.
   
3. They're deluded.
   
4. They drive a Prius and/or enjoy lattes (never really understood this one, either).

1. don't pay attention to the story behind the campaign,
   
2. probably haven't noticed that what is said in campaign events and actions don't match,
   
3. don't realize that "electibility" argument is false,
   
4. don't value experience and knowledge,
   
5. have bought into the republican disinformation campaign.

with regards to the presidential campaign, john lewis' constituents are the entire population, not just his little slice of the pie. i'm very disappointed that he, of all people, seems willing to dump everyone else, merely to retain his seat in congress.

speaking of bringing racism into the campaign:

Do you want to go down in history as the one to prevent a black from winning the White House?

thanks JJ, jr. for injecting the fear of being accused of not being "black" enough into this campaign. good on ya! daddy is no doubt very proud of you.