Kaptur

Marcy Kaptur is the Congresswoman who represents Ohio's Ninth District, where I happen to live.  As a member of Congress, she is a superdelegate to the Democratic convention and so far has been uncommitted.

Today, however, Barack Obama took to the House floor to say hello to several members, including Kaptur:

He spoke to uncommitted superdelegates as well as supporters of his rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) He was also seen speaking to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who is neutral in the race. And he talked at length to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), an uncommitted superdelegate.

While Dennis Kucinich was in the race, Kaptur said that so long as a fellow member of Ohio's congressional delegation was in the race, it would not be appropriate for her to make an endorsement.  Since Kucinich dropped out, her rationale for not endorsing anyone is that it maximizes her influence on the issues she cares about:

Kaptur said holding out on when it comes to her endorsement has had its advantages for lawmakers like herself who have an agenda to push and that the competitiveness of the Democratic nomination fight has given her the leverage to do so.“Had we not remained neutral, we would not have gotten a discussion,” Kaptur said. “I don’t think either one of them would meet with us if they were not that close.”

Kaptur is a thoughtful and dedicated congresswoman.  I suspect that she is torn now.  Her district narrowly went for Clinton in the primary, but Clinton's husband was the prime mover behind NAFTA, which Kaptur blames for gutting Toledo-area manufacturing.  She's a loyal Democrat who presumably wants the party to unite, but I wouldn't be surprised if she felt a certain gender and generational solidarity with Hillary Clinton, who is one year her junior.  The core of her support comes from union members who are more in synch with Clinton than Obama, but she abhors the effect of big money on politics and must have reservations about Clinton's reliance on PAC money.

Now that she has had conversations with Obama, it might be an appropriate time for her constituents to weigh in on the issue with her.  She can be reached through her webpage.