Dem presidential candidates court Clyburn

Majority Whip James Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) three grown daughters each have their own favorite Democratic presidential candidate, and his wife won’t share her preference with him. His first cousin favors former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and a longtime confidant is helping Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.).

“I don’t want to get in the middle of that, get everyone angry at me,” Clyburn said in an interview with The Hill.
Clyburn, as one of two congressional Democrats in a state that will hold the first primary in the South on Jan. 29, has not thrown his considerable political weight behind any one candidate.

{mosads}But that has not stopped candidates trying to win him over and they have courted him with letters, notes and phone calls, and by generally seeking face time any way they can get it.

The state’s other Democratic lawmaker, Rep. John Spratt, has not endorsed a candidate either, although he has been in touch with Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), according to his spokesman.

Whether Clyburn can sway voters is unclear. In 2004, he initially endorsed former Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Dick Gephardt (Mo.). When Gephardt dropped out, Clyburn threw his support to Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). Kerry won the nomination, but Edwards, originally from South Carolina, won the primary.

Black voters could make up as much as half the Democratic primary vote. Recent polling is mixed. The latest American Research Group poll puts Obama four points ahead of Clinton, but another poll, by Southern Political Report, has her ahead 43-28, a 15-point margin. Edwards lags a distant third. The Southern Political Report survey showed Clinton and Obama splitting the black vote.

The race in South Carolina today reflects national polling, Clyburn told WashingtonPost.com on Tuesday. If Obama or Clinton stumbles in Iowa or New Hampshire, a third candidate could emerge as a new frontrunner.

At the CNN/YouTube.com debate at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., last week, Clyburn sat between Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and The Citadel’s president. During the commercial breaks, Obama chatted with Clyburn while Clinton talked with Angela, the whip’s youngest daughter.

The night before the debate, Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), another candidate, spoke at the Morris Brown A.M.E. church, which Clyburn attends. The morning after the debate, Biden and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), yet another hopeful, found themselves stuck at the Charleston International Airport for five hours. The first two flights to Washington were cancelled and then the airport was shut down while President Bush landed.

Asked if they discussed politics, Clyburn said they talked about YouTube’s impact on the debate the previous evening and then about Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark Supreme Court desegregation case.

Clyburn noted that the case involved school districts in South Carolina and Delaware, which both have a high proportion of black residents, and that he and Biden have discussed school integration for years.

Dodd and Clyburn got to know each other last year during the campaign swings through Connecticut.

Clinton and Clyburn spent Saturday morning together at the College Democrats of America forum at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. A letter from Clinton also stands on Clyburn’s congressional office desk.

Clyburn said he spoke to Obama several times before the debate, but has not spoken to him since then.

In addition to shepherding presidential candidates around his state, Clyburn is trying to prevent Florida from holding its primary on the same day as the Palmetto State and has become a prodigious fundraiser for House Democrats.  

Clyburn has paid $600,000 of his $800,000 dues to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and given $250,000 from his political action committee to vulnerable Democrats.

After hanging out with Clinton last Saturday, Clyburn flew to Miami to attend a DCCC fundraiser hosted by the state’s Democratic Reps. Kendrick Meek and Debbie Wasserman Schultz. This summer, he has helped Democratic Reps. Lacy Clay (Mo.), Baron Hill (Ind.), Jason Altmire (Pa.) and John Yarmouth (Ky.) raise money.