WASHINGTON, (Reut-ers) – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday, a much-needed boost to her campaign as it competes for the important black voting bloc in South Carolina’s primary this month.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have built strong ties to the African-Americ-an community over the past decades.
Several lawmakers cited Clinton’s long history of not only working on issues important to black Ameri-cans, but on getting Demo-crats elected and advancing the party’s agenda.
“Mrs Clinton has demonstrated her leadership skills. She has labored in various capacities all of her adult life and now she is ready to serve our country by occupying the highest office in our country,” said U.S. Representative G.K. Butterfield.
The group’s backing will be important as Clinton seeks to recover from Tuesday’s stinging loss to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in the New Hampshire primary.
Black voters make up a large bloc in the Democra-tic primary in South Carolina and will be increasingly significant to the Democrats as the presidential contest moves from Iowa and New Hampshire to more demographically diverse states.
The Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee planned to send a dozen members to South Carolina to campaign for Clinton over the weekend in advance of the state’s Feb. 27 Democratic primary.
Sanders, fresh off his victory in New Hampshire, had breakfast on Wednes-day with one of America’s most prominent civil rights activists, Rev. Al Sharpton, recognizing the need to broaden his base to mount a long-term challenge to Clinton.
U.S. Representative James Clyburn, an influential African American from South Carolina, declined to make a personal endorsement before the caucus announcement in Washing-ton.
Appearing on CNN Thursday morning, Clyburn praised Sanders’ voting record and had no criticism of the U.S. senator from Vermont.
