While reports are that Governor Tim Kaine will endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, he will not be receiving the endorsements of some prominent blacks in South Carolina, including that of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.
Yesterday, black State Sens. Robert Ford and Darrell Jackson said they will be supporting Hillary Clinton for the nomination.
Ford said Obama winning the primary would drag down the rest of the party.
“It’s a slim possibility for him to get the nomination, but then everybody else is doomed,” Ford said. “Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose — because he’s black and he’s top of the ticket. We’d lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything.”
“I’m a gambling man. I love Obama,” Ford said. “But I’m not going to kill myself.”
Today, Clyburn said he will not endorse anyone during the primary.
“I used a lot of political capital keeping that primary in South Carolina when two other states went after that,” Clyburn said. “I promised people at that time that if they were to come to South Carolina and participate in that primary I would not participate in any effort.” He said he wanted to ensure all candidates “have a fair shot at winning the state.”
South Carolina, where some 49% of its primary voters are black, will hold its primary in January 2008.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
Seems far too early for endorsements.
I agree.
I tend to disagree on the endorsements. The presidential process is starting earlier then it ever has, so this is just falling in line. But also, getting endorsements early shows a couple of things – credibility, strengthen and momentum – which will theorectically translate into $$ (now) and votes (later).
I think as long as a candidate officially declares a campaign, not a exploratory its safe to endorse them.
“Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose — because he’s black and he’s top of the ticket. We’d lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything.”
If Sen. Biden had said that instead of calling Obama “clean”, we’d still be talking about it. Is this guy going to get a pass?
“The presidential process is starting earlier than it ever has–”
No, it really hasn’t. I’ve decided I’m going to start challenging this assertion. Presidential elections have always been running years out behind the scenes, and it’s been that way since before the civil war. I mean, think about it: It’s 1870, the nation spans from Florida to Maine and across to the Pacific coast of California, we have a Transcontinental railroad, but no one’s bothered inventing the telephone, radio or television set yet. You’re going to have to spend years kissing babies if you want to be President under those conditions. Plus, let’s exercise just a tiny bit of cynicism here and assume that most of the people throughout history who decided they wanted to be President didn’t simply decide on a whim, and have really been jockeying for it for most of their adult lives, hiring fundraisers and courting opinion makers the way Obama, Clinton and Edwards are doing now.
Here’s a good WaPo article on some of the actual history. Yay for edification: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201064.html?sub=AR
PS, Adam, I’m guessing from the context of Vivian’s post that State Sen. Robert Ford is black? For whatever reason it’s okay for black politicians to say things like this about themselves….
During Obama’s 60 minutes appearance, he had a pretty good response to a similiar topic. He said that he doesn’t expect the blacks to automatically support him just because he’s black. He hopes to gain their support through his stance on the issues.
You should go read the post over at Virtucon about Kaine’s endorsement being some grand retribution by Virginia Democrats over Hillary pushing Mark Warner out through her usual shady means.
So Vivian, you backing “Barry” Obama?