UPDATED: 11:30 p.m. 

The Star's David Goldstein reached Rep. Emanuel Cleaver Thursday night about his remarks on the Clinton superdelegates. Here's his report:

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri said Thursday that black Democratic superdelegates who support Sen. Hillary Clinton have been “bludgeoned verbally” to prod them to switch to Sen. Barack Obama.

 Cleaver, who is African-American and a superdelegate, has backed Clinton since last summer and this week re-emphasized that support. He said that he himself has not been pressured, but that black superdelegates from all over the country have been subjected to harassment, threatened with primary opponents and called “Uncle Tom.”

He said they have been told, “You’re not black if you’re not supporting Barack Obama. … It is ugly.”

He speculated that he has escaped the pressure because, although Obama won the Missouri primary, he only defeated Clinton narrowly.

With crucial primaries looming Tuesday, the intensity of the pressure became evident this week when Georgia Rep. John Lewis left the Clinton camp and sided with Obama. Lewis, an elder of the civil rights movement, faced a challenge for his seat from an Atlanta minister upset over his refusal to support Obama.

Cleaver said he did not believe that Obama himself was behind the effort against the Clinton superdelegates. “But I think he’s probably aware of it by now.” And he said Obama should address the issue.

“It’s real sad because Senator Obama is talking about a new kind of politics. But some of his supporters are practicing a 1950s style of politics. This is Tom Pendergast politics going on right now,” Cleaver said referring to the 1930s Kansas City political boss. Cleaver made similar remarks about the pressure on superdelegates Thursday night to The Politico Web site. The Politico talked to other African-American superdelegates, who also said they will remain firm in the face of such pressure rather than switch to Obama.

Here's The Politico's report.