Davis’ downplays suggested Obama terrorism link

The chief of staff for Democratic Rep. Lincoln Davis (Tenn.) on Friday elaborated slightly on his apparent suggestion that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) could have ties to terrorism, saying nobody “in their right mind” would think that Obama does.

{mosads}No one in their right mind, including me, believes Sen. Obama has ties to terrorism,” Davis chief of staff Beecher Frasier said in a statement. “It is truly ridiculous for anyone to try to make hay out of these comments."

Frasier’s initial comments came in response to comments by a state Democratic Executive Committee member, who suggested Davis hadn’t endorsed Obama because it “sounds kind of like he may be” connected to terrorists. Those comments were reported by the Nashville City Paper.

The paper reported that Frasier said he assumed Obama wasn’t connected to terrorists but that he didn’t know for sure. Davis’s campaign offered no commentary on the report in its statement.

Davis is one of a handful of centrist Democrats who have declined to endorse Obama thus far, even in the week since Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) dropped out of the race. Also in the group are Reps. Jim Marshall (Ga.), Dan Boren (Okla.), Tim Mahoney (Fla.) and Travis Childers (Miss.).

Frasier said in the City Paper report that Davis wasn’t withholding his endorsement for political reasons. Davis represents one of the most conservative districts held by a Democrat, and it voted 58 percent for President Bush in 2004.

Republicans have sought to tie Democrats running in conservative districts to Obama.

Davis is also thought to have gubernatorial aspirations. He regularly ranks to the right of the vast majority of his Democratic colleagues.

Businessman Monty Lankford, a Republican running for Davis’s seat, said Davis needs to address the comments. Davis was not made available for comment in the City Paper report.

“If Lincoln Davis believes there is a chance Barack Obama is ‘terrorist-connected,’ that may explain why he has dragged his feet in not endorsing Obama,” Lankford said. “And if so, Davis needs to share his Washington ‘insider information’ with the rest of us in Tennessee.”