Should Gephardt thank Al Gore for the Clyburn endorsement?

[dolstein]

I suspect that the timing of Rep. Clyburn's endorsement of Gephardt was no coincidence. Gephardt was always Clyburn's favored candidate, but I think he might have been inclined to wait a little longer had Gore not endorsed Howard Dean.

Of course, Dean may get the last laugh, since even if Gephardt beats Dean in Iowa, he may not have the money to last until South Carolina (the same thing happened to Gephardt in '88). Clyburn would have done far more damage to Dean by endorsing Wes Clark, who'll have the money to compete against Dean in South Carolina.

[jmaier]

1. I think I read ...

in a SC newpaper article that both Clyburn and Hollings had said that they would wait until the "end of the year" to announce an endorsement if they were going to announce. Clyburn's announcement timing is pretty much in line with that thought.

[oasis]

2. Clyburn told Judy Woodruff that his continued support for Gep would depend

on results from the Iowa caucus.

[goobergunch]

3. kick, so people realize that Clyburn supports Gep, not Clark

:kick: