SC Senator apoloizes to himself: First blood n the Obama-Clinton war drawn

2 S.C. Black Leaders Back Sen. Clinton

By JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press Writer


COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Two key black political leaders in South Carolina who backed John Edwards in 2004 said Tuesday they are supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

State Sens. Robert Ford and Darrell Jackson told The Associated Press they believe Clinton is the only Democrat who can win the presidency. Both said they had been courted by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; 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."

Ford said he was swayed by calls from former President Clinton and Hillary Clinton. The Charleston lawmaker said she has solid support in his district, one of the key regions in the state with a major black Democratic voting population.

One Obama ally rejected Ford's assessment. "I think that Senator Ford's comments were reprehensible," said Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. "I believe Democratic prospects would soar, not slump."

Later in the day, Ford said he had been besieged by criticism and apologized for his characterization of Obama's chances. If Clinton doesn't win the nomination, any of the other candidates are well suited to take the White House, Ford said. "If I caused anybody - including myself - any pain about the comments I made earlier, then I want to apologize to myself and to Senator Obama and any of his supporters," Ford said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CLINTON_SOUTH_CAROLINA?SITE=CATOR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-02-13-21-48-32

hadn't heard that one before...

My money's on Edwards to take SC. Not necessarily the nomination, but the SC primary. That is, unless Gore gets in.

"State Sens. Robert Ford and Darrell Jackson told The Associated Press they believe Clinton is the only Democrat who can win the presidency. Both said they had been courted by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; Ford said Obama winning the primary would drag down the rest of the party."

Hillary is NOT the only one who can win the general election; Edwards seems to be doing better when matched up against any of the Republican candidates than Hillary.

what an idiot. :eyes:

Julie

I'm not even an Obama backer. I don't know who I'm voting for at this point, but he's definitely not going to win if everyone assumes he's going to lose from the get go.

:banghead:

Not everyone has entered the race yet. Too bad this guy couldn't just endorse Hillary without smearing Obama.

I hope that's not where Ford got this racist drivel.

I wonder how the ticket would do if Gore was heading it up :)

And that ticket splitting was common practice, so how could he be a drag on the ticket? If anything, an Obama candidacy should boost southern black turnout.