Obama Catches Up In Support From Hill

"Anybody who did not think Republicans would characterize either of our candidates somehow as deeply flawed has been living in another country, if not another planet," said Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), who remains undecided but believes Obama will be the nominee.

Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), an Obama supporter, said that at this point there are very few truly uncommitted lawmakers among the 92 who have not publicly endorsed, and he predicted that Obama would seal a majority of them by the final Democratic primaries on June 3.

Amid the positive signs for Obama was one worrisome development: a new television ad by Mississippi congressional candidate Travis Childers, a Democrat, that tries to create distance between Childers and his party's potential nominee. Childers's GOP opponent, Greg Davis, linked him to "liberal Barack Obama" in a previous ad that places Childers's face next to Wright's. The narrator says, "When Obama's pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing."

The new Childers ad denounces "lies and attacks linking me to politicians I don't know and have never even met."

Braley, the Iowa freshman, said he had already concluded that Obama holds "potential as a leading national figure" because of the "energy and enthusiasm" that he has generated among voters. But he said he was further reassured by the way Obama handled the Wright issue, which erupted again over the weekend.

"He made it very clear where he stands," Braley said.

Staff writer Perry Bacon Jr., traveling with Clinton, contributed to this report.