Party elder dumps Clinton for Obama

Civil rights hero and US Democratic Party elder John Lewis has defected from presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama. Lewis made his decision after a period of public agonizing, but said he wanted to be on the side of history.

"John Lewis is an American hero and a giant of the civil rights movement, and I am deeply honored to have his support," Obama said in a statement.

The veteran Georgia congressman is also a superdelegate, one of the 795 party luminaries and lawmakers who can vote how they like at the party convention and may have a vital say in sealing the presidential nomination, AFP said.

"Something is happening in America," Lewis said.

"There is a movement, there is a spirit, there is an enthusiasm in the hearts and minds of the American people that I have not seen in a long time, since the (1968) candidacy of Robert Kennedy," he said.