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U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, is among the ten members of the Congressional Black Caucus criticizing the Obama administration for not doing more for African-Americans in the recession.

The group withheld their votes on a financial services bill earlier this week and later said they were pressuring the White House to do more, The Hill reports. Unemployment for blacks is approaching 16 percent, compared to the national rate of 10.2 percent.

The caucus members spelled out several policy steps they want the administration to take, such as foreclosure reduction efforts and more aid to community banks that lend to African-Americans.

Delegates cast their votes for their preferred Democrat on paper ballots this morning, said Anita Earls of Durham.

Whether those votes end up meaning anything come roll-call time is uncertain.

“What they’re going to do for the camera, I don’t know,” she said.

Earls, a civil rights lawyer, went to Denver hoping to find substance in a convention city full of parties and fundraisiers. And she found it.

Among other things, The Nation is holding panel discussions every day, and Barack Obama's campaign sent a surrogate to the North Carolina delegate breakfast to talk about energy policy, she said.

And even the parties can be good for exchanging ideas. Earls met a lawyer from Georgia who does the same kind of work as she does at a party Tuesday night sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus.

“You can go to the parties and just drink, or you can talk to people,” said Earls, 48, an Obama delegate.

Plenty of delegates attend conventions over and over, but Earls sees Denver as her one shot. She wants to figure out how to get more first-timers at the next convention to, as she says, “pass the torch around.”

“You can bring more people into politics if we try to open it up more,” she said.

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride? 

Former presidential candidate John Edwards is on a list of potential running mates for Democrat Barack Obama, according to a Michigan congresswoman.

Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, who leads the Congressional Black Caucus, said that members of Obama's vetting team, Caroline Kennedy and Eric Holder, indicated the two were on the list, the Associated Press reports.

"Former Sen. Sam Nunn’s name has come up, as well as John Edwards' name has come up among our CBC members," she said.

If true, that would make the third election cycle — after Al Gore's run in 2000 and John Kerry's in 2004 — that Edwards has made the short list of vice presidential picks.

Edwards has previously said he was not interested in the job. 

U.S. Reps. David Price and Mel Watt will endorse Barack Obama.

The two Democratic superdelegates are slated to announce that they are backing Obama in a conference call at 1:15 this afternoon, Dome has learned.

In recent weeks, both had said they would make an endorsement before the state's May 6 primary, but they had kept their preference private.

The two are influential in state politics. Price, often called the dean of the state delegation, is a political science professor who helped design the superdelegate system while working for a national commission led by former Gov. Jim Hunt.

Watt, who served as campaign manager for Harvey Gantt's race against U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, had previously expressed doubt that America is ready for a black president. He is the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The announcement brings Obama's count of North Carolina superdelegates to six, including U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, former Democratic Party director Everett Ward, party vice chair Dannie Montgomery and lobbyist Joyce Brayboy, who previously worked for Watt.

Hillary Clinton has just one, Charlotte Councilwoman Susan Burgess.

That leaves 14 uncommitted superdelegates in North Carolina, including two who will be named at the state convention and party chairman Jerry Meek, who has said he will remain neutral.

Previously: Watt, Price are among five endorsements that matter.

Which endorsements would matter in North Carolina?

As noted previously, most of the state's elected Democrats have stayed on the sidelines in the fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

As the May 6 primary approaches, both sides will be looking for some local help. Here are five endorsements that could make a difference, and which way they might be leaning:

John Edwards: He's a national figure, he still controls 26 delegates and he's got time to campaign. He's not been interested so far, but can he avoid the circus when it's in his backyard? He went after Clinton in the campaign, but that may have been purely tactical.

Mike Easley: He's a popular second-term governor who occasionally seems to be interested in another job. A crucial nod — something more than a pronoun slip — could put him in good stead. A centrist Democrat, he would seem to be in tune with Clinton.

Jim Hunt: He's a popular former four-term governor who still works behind the scenes in state politics. A veteran campaigner, he'd be a good surrogate on the stump. As a Southern governor, he has close ties to the Clintons.

Mel Watt: As the former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, he's a well-known figure in state and national politics. The former campaign manager for U.S. Senate candidate Harvey Gantt, he's expressed doubts that America's ready for a black president.

David Price: He's the dean of the Democratic Congressional delegation. He's been active with the Democratic Leadership Council and worked with Bill Clinton in the 1990s, but his base in Chapel Hill likely leans toward Obama.

Others that could be a score for either campaign: Attorney General Roy Cooper, gubernatorial candidate Beverly Perdue or Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield is co-chairing a black leadership conference.

The annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference will be held in Washington, D.C., which started last night and runs through this weekend.

Along with seminars and issue forums, the conference will also feature a jazz concert.

They keynote speech at a prayer breakfast Saturday will be given by Dr. Clifford A. Jones, pastor of Friendship Missionary Church in Charlotte.

Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, is co-chairing the event along with U.S. Reps. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Michigan and Donna M. Christensen of the Virgin Islands.

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt is the state delegation's most frequent flyer.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Watt took six trips paid for by private sources, including a five-day trip to a judicial conference in Barbados and jaunts to Houston, San Francisco, Miami, Nashville and Nantucket.

Most of the trips were related to his chairmanship of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Other notable trips revealed by financial disclosure forms: 

* Rep. Patrick McHenry went to West Palm Beach to speak at a panel discussion paid for by the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

* Rep. David Price went to Poland for a conference on Russian relations and New Haven, Conn., for a Yale Divinity School board meeting.