Rep. Boren said earlier this week he will not be formally endorsing Obama.

(CNN) - This year’s presidential campaign has been one pitting family members against one another.

Now, former Oklahoma Sen. David Boren is on opposite sides of his son, Oklahoma Rep. Dan Boren, who announced earlier this week that he will not endorse Barack Obama for president. The younger Boren's reasoning is that his district is very conservative and he doesn’t agree with many of the Democratic nominee's positions.

Listen to Sen. Boren's comments to Roland Martin

The elder Boren, now president of the University of Oklahoma and a staunch supporter of Obama, said Friday on my radio program "The Roland S. Martin Show on WVON-AM in Chicago" that he’s “puzzled by his son’s announcement.

"We’ve grown up in a family where we were taught to think for ourselves, but I have to say I’m puzzled about how much thinking he put into that before he said it," Boren said. "I think he’ll probably be saying some other things."

“He did say he was going to vote for Barack Obama. He just made the puzzling statement he wasn’t gong to endorse him. Well, when you say publicly you’re voting for somebody I think that means you’re supporting them.”

The father later added: “We all learn from things and my hope is will be a learning experience for him because, as I say, this isn’t a matter of politics, this is a matter of the future of our country.”