Clyburn: Obama-Clinton rally will help party heal

By GINA SMITH - gnsmith@thestate.com

Wounds within the Democratic Party should begin to heal following Friday’s Obama-Clinton rally, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said Friday.

“There’s a lot of tension that’s built up and it’s still there,” Clyburn said Friday. “But I think it’s waning.”

Clyburn made headlines around the nation after telling former President Bill Clinton to “chill out” after the former president compared Obama’s run to that of Rev. Jesse Jackson symbolic candidacy in 1988.

Friday, Clyburn would not comment on whether President Clinton should remain in the background or embark on a more prominent role leading up to November.

“When (Democrats) come out of that convention, we’ll be on the same page,” he said.

Other Democrats agreed.

“Much has been made about rifts within the party,” said Jay Parmley, executive director of the S.C. Democratic Party. “Now it’s over ... It does take some time for people who were so passionate about their candidate to recover. But at the end of the day, they want a Democratic candidate to be elected.”

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