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Uh Oh! Black Leaders Who Backed Hillary Early Get Nervous
Compiled by the DiversityInc staff
January 07, 2008
Sen. Barack Obama's caucus victory in Iowa has put blacks leaders who came out early for Sen. Hillary Clinton in a bind.
A report in The New York Times indicated a flurry of phone calls went out to black elected officials across the country from the Clinton and Obama camps as the Iowa caucus results streamed in Thursday evening and it became clear Obama would have a decisive victory.
"For black elected officials who either stayed out of this race or have supported Sen. Clinton, they're in a very dicey position right now," Fletcher N. Smith Jr., a black state legislator from Greenville, S.C., told the Times. Fletcher added that should Obama find equal success in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, black leaders who backed Clinton might become "magically unavailable when the Clinton campaign calls them."
"It's a precarious time for the Clinton campaign," Rep. Arthur Davis of Alabama told the Times.
Thus far, the Obama camp has nabbed several major endorsements from black officials, including Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., Newark, N.J., Mayor Corey Booker, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and Columbus, Ohio, Mayor Michael B. Coleman. The Rev. Jesse Jackson also has been in Obama's camp for some time. And of course, the support of Oprah Winfrey has been a big boost to Obama's campaign.
Clinton, who came in a disappointing third in Iowa, currently has the endorsements of Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation, and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., among others.
According to The Washington Post, Clinton leads Obama in CBC Caucus endorsements 15 to 12. Some high-ranking members of the CBC, including Reps. Maxine Waters of California and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, have reserved their endorsement. CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Kilpatrick, D-Mich., has also not endorsed a candidate, and it's not known if she will. According to The Hill, past CBC chairmen have "gone to great lengths" to avoid giving the appearance that the CBC was endorsing a specific candidate.
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