Thursday, Jun. 05, 2008

For S.C.’s Clyburn, a moving moment

Congressman ‘went home and sat alone’ to watch Obama’s speech

He was so moved, he wanted privacy. That’s what U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn told ETV Radio Thursday about the moment U.S. Sen. Barack Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, the first African-American to reach such political heights.

“When we got to the point that they said that Senator Obama will be making that speech in a few minutes, I went home and sat alone to watch it,” Clyburn said in an interview that will air at 9 a.m. today. “Because what I was feeling was indescribable and I was afraid that I would not be able to control my emotions.”

To hear the Clyburn interview, look for a link at thestate.com at 9 a.m.

PRESIDENTIAL PROFANITY?

Clyburn made news because of a different kind of emotion Wednesday. Clyburn, according to the Wall Street Journal, was called an expletive by former President Bill Clinton on the night Obama won the state’s January presidential primary.

Clyburn and Clinton were engaged in a 50-minute conversation. Clyburn had admonished the Clintons about the negative tone the primary had assumed, as the race between Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton grew tense.

Clyburn’s office, according to the Journal, confirmed the former president used offensive language.

— Leroy Chapman Jr.

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