Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a Democratic Party superdelegate and civil rights icon, announced Wednesday that he is switching his support from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"After taking some time for serious reflection on this issue, I have decided that when I cast my vote as a superdelegate at the Democratic convention, it is my duty as a representative of the 5th Congressional District to express the will of the people," Lewis said in a written statement. "As a U.S. representative, it is my role not to try to subdue or supress the will of the people, but to help it prosper and grow."

Lewis went on to say that "Something is happening in America."

"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 candidacy of Robert Kennedy," he said. "The people are pressing for a new day in American politics, and I think they see Sen. Barack Obama as a symbol of change."

Obama campaign officials said they didn't know about Lewis' switch until they read about it in Wednesday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wednesday afternoon, Obama said: "John Lewis is an American hero and a giant of the Civil Rights Movement, and I am deeply honored to have his support."

Lewis' decision is a blow to the Clinton campaign. On Monday, Harold Ickes, a senior Clinton campaign adviser, told reporters that superdelegates - who are usually members of Congress or distinguished Democratic party members - are leaders who must exercise independent thought and not be followers.

"They are not sheep," Ickes said.

Lewis said he came to his decision "independently, not based on politics or pressure, but because I believe it is right."

"I have deep and abiding lve for both Sen. Clinton and President Clinton. Sen. Clinton is a brilliant and capable candidate," Lewis said. "However, the people of my district have spoken, and I think that as their vessel, I should represent their wishes at the convention."

Phil Singer, a Hillary Clinton presidential campaign spokesman, isn't a TV critic, but he gave two thumbs up Monday to an NBC "Saturday Night Live" skit that lampooned the press for fawning over Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama and treating him with kid gloves.

Responding to a question at a media breakfast session with Clinton campaign adviser Harold Ickes, Singer said the media vetting of Obama has been "woefully inadequate" and pointed to the SNL skit as Exhibit A.

"That's a point that has certainly been backed up (by) the 'Saturday Night Live' skit that opened the show this past Saturday evening, which I would refer you all to," Singer told reporters at the session.

Accusing the media of being soft on Barack and hard on Hillary seemed to be the mantra of the Clinton campaign Monday as campaign communications director Howard Wolfson teed off on the press in an afternoon telephone conference call with reporters.

"I think it is ture that every time the Obama campaign in this campaign has attacked Senator Clinton in the worst kind of personal ways, attacked her veracity, attacked her credibility, said that she would do anything to get elected, the press has largely applauded him," Wolfson said. "When we have attempted to make contrasts with Senator Obama, we have been criticized for it. That is a fact of life that we labor under."

Speaking at the Monitor breakfast, Ickes said "the media has just barely begun to examine" Obama in depth.

"We think now that he has become the front-runner, which he is in this process, that there will be more in-depth examination," Ickes said. "We think the vetting process is a critically important element of the process, we think more time needs to go by, and we think that now he's become a front-runner that that process will kick in."