WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- The party nomination may be at hand, but Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., still seeks U.S. congressional endorsements, which some Democrats say they may not give.
Democrats from conservative districts -- such as Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss., or Rep Heath Shuler, D-N.C. -- haven't signaled their endorsement of Obama, the Politico said.
"We have had our head down at work, trying to get our feet on the ground up here," Brad Morris, Childers' chief of staff, told Politico. "The presidential politics just has not been on our mind."
Shuler's office said, "We're not really too focused on the presidential (race)." Shuler endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who suspended her campaign Saturday.
Other centrists won't be endorsing Obama, either, but that's because they have a history of not endorsing presidential candidates, their offices told Politico.
A spokesman for Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., told Politico that Marshall "as a rule, doesn't get involved in other people's campaigns."
Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., a longtime Obama backer, said there's no ill-will toward party members who don't endorse Obama.
"I defer to any member's judgment on what they need to do," Davis said to Politico. "They're all loyal Democrats who vote with Democrats on a range of issues."
