Candidates court black vote

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As the most powerful black politician in a state where blacks make up about 30 percent of registered voters, Clyburn's support was deemed a coup for the candidate who could win it. Blacks could account for half the vote cast in Tuesday's Democratic presidential pri- mary here.

"Clyburn helps Kerry tremendously," said Kevin Gray, a local black political activist and writer. "I'm not surprised by the endorsement. When Kerry first came to the state, he was a guest of Clyburn's."

The courtship of Clyburn underscores the importance of the black vote to the outcome of the Feb. 3 primary in South Carolina, which gained significance when state Democratic leaders scheduled the contest to occur the week after the New Hampshire primary.

Although six other states — Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma — hold primaries or caucuses on Tuesday, most of the media attention has centered on South Carolina because it represents the first test of the candidates' strength in the South and among black voters.

The campaign here could be a harbinger of what to look for in the weeks to come, as the nominating contests move into more diverse states where minorities represent sizeable voting blocs.

"It's simple. If a Democratic candidate can't get the black vote, he can't win," said Ike Williams, a longtime aide to Clyburn. "We constitute the core group of the Democratic Party throughout the country."

Nowhere is that more true than in the South, where in some states blacks make up about 25 percent of the registered voters.

Williams, who had been Rep. Dick Gephardt's South Carolina director, is now supporting Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who was born in Seneca, S.C. Clyburn originally backed Gephardt, but switched his allegiance to Kerry on Thursday because the Missouri congressman dropped out of the race after finishing fourth in Iowa.

Most of the candidates have spent considerable time wooing black voters here, making personal appeals and relying on endorsements from well-known black figures.

Edwards' first campaign event after the New Hampshire primary was a rally at South Carolina State University, one of the nation's historically black colleges and universities. The senator talked about making America work for all Americans.

Edwards has enlisted the aid of Harvey Gantt, the black former mayor of Charlotte, who twice tried unsuccessfully to unseat conservative Jesse Helms in the Senate. Popular black lawyer Johnnie Cochran is promoting the Rev. Al Sharpton, the only black candidate in the race, in radio ads. Retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark has the backing of Mary Frances Berry, chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's candidacy is being touted by Carol Moseley Braun, who in 1992 became the first black woman elected to the Senate. She dropped out of the presidential race Jan. 19.

On Friday, all the candidates except Lieberman participated in a forum before a largely black audience in Columbia, moderated by nationally syndicated black radio host Tom Joyner. The absence of Lieberman, who speaks often of participating in the civil rights March on Washington, was booed.

The candidates gave their positions on such major issues as jobs, education and health care, but they also spoke on issues of race and their commitment to civil rights and affirmative action.

Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, struck a chord when he talked about the unfairness of the military draft at the time and the "extraordinary injustice" in the deployment of minority soldiers.

"Most of the kids I was with in Vietnam came out of the South Side of Chicago or South Central Los Angeles or the barrios," said Kerry, a Yale University graduate. "And they weren't the kids at the university I went to."

Dean, whose commitment to civil rights has been challenged by Sharpton, repeated his oft-stated theme that race has to be part of the campaign dialogue. "I think white leaders need to talk specifically to white audiences," he said, "because black audiences have heard a lot from white folks about racism, and I don't think there is a lot more that we can teach."

Sharpton, the civil rights activist, probably had the one-liner that generated the most enthusiastic response when he focused on his rivals' statements on civil rights issues.

"These people talk about what should be done," Sharpton said. "I did something about it."

Political experts in the state note that Sharpton has spent more time in South Carolina than any of the other candidates, and the effort may be paying off. A recent American Research Group poll showed him in third place with 15 percent of the vote, behind Edwards with 21 percent and Kerry at 17.

But they doubt the New York activist can pull together the same kind of winning formula that worked for the Rev. Jesse Jackson when he won the Democratic caucus here in 1988.

"Sharpton has great appeal in the black, lower-class urban setting," said Bruce Ransom, a black political scientist at Clemson University. "The question is whether he has that broad-based appeal." Clearly, Jesse had it."

GNS writer Chuck Raasch contributed to this article.