Kerry wins key SC endorsement (Clyburn)

[Feanorcurufinwe]

South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack intend to endorse John Kerry, officials said today, a coup for the Democratic presidential front-runner the day after his win in New Hampshire.

The backing of the six-term Democratic congressman, the dominant black politician in his state, is critical in South Carolina, where almost half the voters in the Feb. 3 primary are expected to be minorities. Clyburn was courted by all of the Democratic presidential candidates.

The decision to side with Kerry was a particular blow to Sen. John Edwards, who has said South Carolina is a must-win state for him and whose campaign recently hired a former top aide to Clyburn who also had been working for Dick Gephardt. Clyburn had endorsed the Missouri congressman, who dropped out of the race after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses Jan 19.

<snip>

Also today, Kerry was picking up the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who had been neutral in the caucuses, although his wife, Christie, had endorsed Kerry and campaigned actively with him throughout the state. Aides to Vilsack spoke on condition of anonymity about his plan to travel to Missouri later to make the endorsement. Expected to join him in endorsing Kerry were two former Missouri senators, Jean Carnahan and Thomas Eagleton, Kerry campaign officials in Missouri said.
http://www.sunspot.net/news/elections/bal-kerry0128,0,3369978.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

[JI7]

1. i still think south carolina is edwards

but this endorsement certainly can't hurt kerry and i'm glad he got it. i'm pretty sure clyburn had been considering between kerry and gephardt when he endorsed gep so it wasn't that hard to endorse kerry after gep got out.

[blm]

3. Clyburn was at the Kerry announcement speech last Sept.

I always thought he preferred Kerry from his reaction to Kerry's appearance there.

Kerry has the Longshoremen's union folks, too. They are one of the FEW effective unions down here.

[JI7]

5. i didn't know that

i remember him speaking about endorsing gep on some show and it seemed to me that he really liked kerry also.but gephardt is a good guy and i think he deserved it then also. good to hear about the longshoremen's union too. i don't know much about them. but i do know union endorsements do matter if they are effective such as the firefighters union.

[genius]

17. I hope SC is Edwards's.

I really want Edwards to stay in the race. And he's not even my candidate.

[Bread and Circus]

2. Endorsements mean jack shit.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. It's Clyburn's political organization, contacts and get-out-the-vote skill

-- that's what counts here, more than just getting his name in the Kerry column.

[Adjoran]

13. "Clyburn's organization"

is the Democratic Party. He has none of his own, never needed it. His district was gerrymandered to ensure a seat for African-Americans in a redistricting deal between repubs and A-A Democrats in the state legislature after the 1990 census.

GOTV is the same. Clyburn has name recognition, but no organization of his own to speak of.

For example, Clyburn previously endorsed Gephardt, but Geppie never topped 10% in the state polls after it.

[oasis]

6. Let's get rolling.

[displacedtexan]

8. Yes! Let's Kerry Forth!

n/t

[tryanhas]

7. Who cares?

Kerry is Skull and Bones.

If it is him versus Bush, the country deserves to rot and burn in hell like it will.

[mitchum]

9. Jim was always my favorite SC politician...

and today I like him even more

[dolstein]

10. More rats jumping onto a sinking ship

First Goveror Vilsack, then Jean Carnahan, now Clyburn.

What on earth would motivate Clyburn (or, for that matter, Hollings) to back a candidate who has absolutely ZERO chance of winning in South Carolina -- or elsewhere else in the South, for that matter -- in the general election?

Edwards at least has a fighting chance to win a few Southern states in the fall. You'd think that the elected officials down there would realize this and act accordingly. But no. It turns out that elected officials in the South behave just like elected officials elsewhere. The see that Kerry's the frontrunner and the want to jump aboard the bandwagon.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

12. Maybe the weight of all those Democrats

will sink Kerry's ship -- but that's not how politics usually works, lol.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

14. Obviously thinks Kerry's a better chance of winning South Carolina

than you'll give him credit for.

[mlawson]

15. What would motivate Clyburn???

The Dem party machine might; they have piles of cash and other perks to give away. I have predicted this situation for a year now: all of a sudden Kerry would catch on, for no apparent reason, just like in 1984 when the machine kicked in for Mondale.

So, Kerry will be our Mondale this year, isn't it great???? :eyes:

[Jerseycoa]

11. Nice one

:toast:

[shawmut]

16. Great news for Kerry! n/t