WASHINGTON — Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., says any superdelegates publicly committing toward either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama aren’t following the spirit of what their role is.

Superdelegates, the 800 or so party insiders and elected officials, were created by the Democratic Party to be unpledged arbiters in a close race.

As such, Rep. Davis said, they should remain uncommitted until the national convention in August.

“I’m disappointed people are committing,” he said. “Some need to go back and read the instructions. We’re here four months from the convention. We’re going to have lots of conversations between now and then.”

Rep. Davis is among the few superdelegates yet to announce for whom he will vote at the convention.

Asked if both campaigns have been actively courting him, Rep. Davis said with a laugh, “I’ve had a few calls.”

POLITICS NOT SO LOCAL

Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., says he doesn’t know much about his Democratic opponent, Jeff Scott, a Chickamauga, Ga., eighth-grade teacher.

But he believes his election will be won as much on the strength of the presidential ticket as on local issues.

“I think a lot of it will be driven by the contrast between the two parties,” he said. “We’ll both be called in to answer questions as to where we stand in relation with our presidential candidate, and there are huge differences.”

CORKER PUSHES AID FOR HAITI

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has sent a letter to President Bush urging his administration to provide at least $60 million in emergency food assistance for Haiti.

“The American people give so generously to those in need around the world, and this is a crucial time for us to once again extend our leadership and aid to Haiti,” said Sen. Corker, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member.

He said the aid also will help preserve stability in poverty-stricken and war-torn Haiti. In April, the island nation saw riots protesting high food prices.

Twenty-five years ago, Sen. Corker took a mission trip to Haiti, which inspired his founding of Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise, a nonprofit organization created in 1986 to promote affordable housing for Chattanooga's low-to-moderate families.