Thomas Explains Switch From Clinton to Obama
Harry Thomas Jr. told the D.C. Wire yesterday that he decided to throw his "superdelegate" support behind Barack Obama last week to honor the "will of his constituents."

Thomas, the council member for Ward 5, had gotten the pot boiling in the District when, after winning a superdelegate seat to the Democratic Convention by just two votes, he announced he was not sure whom he would be supporting, Obama or Clinton. Thomas had declared himself a Clinton supporter early on.

Being an unpledged superdelegate of course put Thomas in the spotlight and he was flooded with calls and emails from District residents, where Obama had soundly defeated Clinton in the District primary.

Thomas also got some primetime with the candidates themselves. He said he spoke with Obama

the week before the Philadelphia debate and with Clinton on the morning of the debate. That's when he told her of his decision.

"She was understanding about it," Thomas told the Wire. His family, he said, had been longtime Clinton supporters. "My father and mother were delegates for Clinton when he first ran, and our family supported her when she ran for senate. There's a lot of history there."

But Thomas said he told the former first lady that he could not go against the will of his constituents. He went public with his decision at a debate watch party.