Friday, April 25, 2008 at 8:56 am
Clyburn on Clinton: Some Wounds Don't Heal Quickly
In an interview with Mark Leibovich of the New York Times, Congressman Jim Clyburn--the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, and one of the most influential politicians in South Carolina--blasts Bill Clinton, calling the former President's conduct during that state's primary "bizarre":
In an interview with The New York Times late Thursday, Mr. Clyburn said Mr. Clinton's conduct in this campaign had caused what might be an irreparable breach between Mr. Clinton and an African-American constituency that once revered him. “When he was going through his impeachment problems, it was the black community that bellied up to the bar,” Mr. Clyburn said. “I think black folks feel strongly that that this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation.”
Mr. Clyburn added that there appeared to be an almost “unanimous” view among African-Americans that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were “committed to doing everything they possibly can to damage Obama to a point that he could never win.”
Clinton, of course, recently accused the Obama campaign of playing the race card against him. This suggests things in the upcoming North Carolina primary could get a lot uglier.
About Swampland
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. His weekly TIME column, "In the Arena," covers national and international affairs. In 2004 he won the National Headliner Award for best magazine column. Read more
Senior Writer Karen Tumulty has been TIME's National Political Correspondent since 2001, and has also covered the White House and Congress for the magazine. A native of San Antonio, she is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Business School, where her career choice has significantly lowered the average salary of her graduating class. But she gets lots of free magazines. Read more
Jay Newton-Small Jay Newton-Small covers politics for TIME. She has covered the Bush 43 White House and also Congress from the DeLay era to the present. And, yes, despite the misleading name SHE is a she. Read more
Michael Scherer is a correspondent in TIME's Washington bureau covering the 2008 presidential campaign. He has worked national assignments for Mother Jones magazine and Salon.com. Read more
Amy Sullivan is a senior editor at TIME magazine, and author of the book The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats are Closing the God Gap (Scribner, 2008). A Michigan native, she holds degrees from the University of Michigan and Harvard Divinity School. She writes about religion and politics for TIME, but no longer answers to the name "Bible Girl." Read more
Recent Posts
Swampland - TIME.com Archives
RSS Feed
 |
Daily Email
More TIME Blogs
Top Stories
- Obama Gets Ready for His Washington Closeup
- Despite Pummeling in Gaza, Hamas Thinks It Has the Upper Hand
- Opening Day for America's Enormous New Embassy in Iraq
- Auto Sales Dive in December: Near-Term Outlook Remains Grim
- Leon Panetta: An Intel Outsider the CIA Needs
- Bailout Report Card: How Successful Have the Rescue Efforts Been?
- Golfer's Ear: Can Big Drives Hurt Your Hearing?
- Gaza Ground War: Day One
- Have Americans Gone Nuts Over Nut Allergies?
- Russia and Ukraine's Annual Gas Spat
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.