Rep. Jim Clyburn Tonight
Posted: Friday, April 25, 2008 4:17 PM by Countdown
Tune in tonight to Countdown with Keith Olbermann at 8p ET for our interview with South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn. He made big waves today with his comments about race and the election in the New York Times...now Keith will talk to him one on one.
from today's New York Times interview:
One of the nation’s most influential African-American political leaders sharply criticized former President Bill Clinton on Thursday afternoon for what he called his “bizarre” conduct during the Democratic primary campaign.
The black leader, Representative James E. Clyburn, an undeclared superdelegate from South Carolina and the third-ranking Democrat in the House, said “black people are incensed over all of this,” referring to statements Mr. Clinton has made in the course of the heated race between Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
Black leaders widely criticized Mr. Clinton after he equated the eventual victory of Mr. Obama in the South Carolina primary in January to that of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the 1988 primary, a parallel that many took as an effort to diminish Mr. Obama’s success in the campaign.
In a radio interview in Philadelphia on Monday, Mr. Clinton defended his remarks and said the Obama campaign had “played the race card on me” by making an issue of them.
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 this is a strange way for President Clinton to show his appreciation.”
