[Cross-posted at Backcountry Conservative]

Yesterday’s Primary News

Today’s Schedule:
2:30 p.m., Meet-and-greet with John Edwards, Margarette H. Miller Cosmetology Center, 1509 Fontaine Road, Columbia
[Remaining Schedule Posted Below]

News:
Fritz Hollings endorsed John Kerry.

A picture of Hollings at the endorsement announcement.

The Greenville News has more on the endorsement (excerpts below.) Edwards picked up some more endorsement from previous Gephardt endorsements that are also listed in the article.

The Post & Courier also covered the endorsement (excerpts below.) The article closes with a mention that Hollings also supported the presidential bid of another Massachusetts Senator - Ted Kennedy.

Today’s Washington Post features a story on the courting of Jim Clyburn (excerpts below.) and a picture of Clyburn in his office.

An article in The State discusses a special state senate election which will be held the same day as the presidential primary in Kershaw County. S.C. still requires parties to run their own presidential preference primaries (including providing their own volunteers. The article indicates that the presidential primary will be able to share polling places with the special election.

An article that originally appeared in the Charlotte Observer discusses the impact of the black vote in the primary. The article centers on Orangeburg, home of S.C. State University and Claflin University.

An article in The Register points out a study that shows flaws in security for internet absentee voting by military personnel overseas. It mentions that the S.C. primary is the first scheduled test of the system.

S.C. blogger Mike discusses the Hollings endorsement, a possible Clyburn one and other S.C. primary possibilities.

Hollings throws support to Kerry for state primary:

“I’ve been elected seven times to the Senate by South Carolinians, and I owe it to them to tell them what I think. I believe John Kerry has the experience, judgment and character to lead this nation. In fact, I tried to get John Kerry to run four years ago. You can’t agree 100 percent with anybody, but I know John Kerry is the right man.”

Hollings made the announcement at a downtown Columbia hotel while Kerry was campaigning in New Hampshire, where primary voters go to the polls on Tuesday.

“John Kerry’s record of fighting for working families, his commitment to fiscal discipline, his plan to restore manufacturing jobs, and his commitment to expand health care and make it more affordable,” were among his reasons, Hollings said….

…”For goodness’ sake, let’s get on down here,” Hollings urged when Kerry joined a conference call.

Kerry promised he would return to South Carolina “with a head of steam and talk common sense to the people down there about jobs lost and the jobs that are needed.”…

…”We’re rolling,” he told Hollings. “I needed to take the time to break through, and we broke through in Iowa. Your endorsement not only has enormous impact on South Carolina, but here (in New Hampshire), because it sends a message nationally about the viability and message of my campaign.”…

…The endorsement from Hollings is a major plus for Kerry, said Scott Huffmon, a Winthrop University political scientist.

“An endorsement from Fritz Hollings goes a long way,” he said “You have (Hollings’) name recognition, someone who has appealed to voters across the political spectrum, and it’s a mainstream attraction, because Fritz Hollings is certainly not from the so-called liberal wing of the Democratic Party.”

Phil Noble of Charleston, chairman of the state chapter of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, said Hollings’ support would benefit anyone, but issued a cautionary note on the strength of brand-name endorsements.

“Times are changing, and endorsements generally get you more headlines than votes,” he said. “If Iowa tells us anything, it’s that people nowadays make up their own mind and endorsements mean less and less.”

Noble cited the endorsement of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean by Sen. Tom Harkin, a dominant figure in Iowa politics, “and it obviously didn’t do much good.” Dean finished third, losing a wide lead in the final week….

…Edwards released a fresh batch of endorsements, including some former supporters of U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, who dropped out of the race after a fourth-place Iowa finish. Among them were Mayor Christopher Campbell of Eastover, president of the South Carolina Conference of Black Mayors, and state Rep. Leon Howard of Columbia. Others included elected Democrats from Lowcountry municipalities and counties…

…Speaking of Edwards, a first-term senator, Hollings said, “I know he was born here (in South Carolina) and he and I are good trial lawyers together, but he doesn’t have nearly the experience to go all the way and really take that White House.” Hollings said Edwards lacks Kerry’s “hard experience.”

Hollings was to fly to New Hampshire after the announcement and begin campaigning there with Kerry today….

…Winthrop’s Huffmon said, “Fritz Hollings has a long and storied career, but as far as gravitas in the Democratic primary, I still think the golden endorsement was Jim Clyburn’s.”

Hollings, who is retiring in January after 38 years in Washington, said he doesn’t have a political organization like Clyburn, “but the voters who elected me seven times to the Senate are all around, (and) I hope that those who haven’t made up their mind will stop, look and listen, because this is serious business.”

Hollings’ backing big boost for Kerry

“Massachusetts liberal? I say bah, humbug,” Hollings said in a hastily called news conference Thursday in Columbia, where he flew to make his announcement.

“The only fella I know that really has the courage and the experience in every regard who can really take President Bush on is John Kerry of Massachusetts,” Hollings said, noting the race is about who can win in November.

“We’ve got a fella who’s fiscally responsible, who’s experienced, who’s good in foreign policy,” he added….

University of South Carolina political scientist Brad Gomez said Hollings’ endorsement at this late hour probably will carry a lot of weight with undecided Democrats since many voters only now are starting to pay attention.

“The fact that Kerry is now getting a great deal of free media during a period when South Carolina voters are just now starting to consider who they might vote for means an endorsement of this caliber could be very useful,” Gomez said.

Hollings’ endorsement also shows Kerry is serious about expanding his campaign beyond his home New England base, Gomez said, by fighting for South Carolina, where Edwards has historically been the favorite….

…This isn’t the first time Hollings has supported a Massachusetts politician for president. He was also an early backer of John Kennedy.

Dearest Colleague:

Rep. Jim Clyburn sat in his Capitol Hill apartment Monday night drinking Jack Daniel’s and Diet Coke and eating pork rinds. He was watching the results come in from Iowa on CNN, and they were not good.

Dick Gephardt, the candidate Clyburn had endorsed for president, was finishing a distant fourth. Iowa voters had effectively ended Gephardt’s campaign. And started Clyburn’s cell phone ringing.

John Edwards or John Kerry called first, he can’t remember which. Wesley Clark called as Clyburn drove to an interview with Charlie Rose. In the next 36 hours, Clyburn would hear from every Democratic presidential candidate — some repeatedly — except for long-shot Dennis Kucinich….

Clyburn says he received 60 to 100 endorsement-related calls between Monday night and Wednesday afternoon.

“And maybe one or two calls about the State of the Union,” says Lindy Birch, his communications director.

Clyburn says he won’t make a decision on an endorsement before next week’s New Hampshire primary.

Meantime, Clyburn keeps talking about how much he likes Gephardt. He likes him for reasons that are both professional and personal. Without Gephardt, Clyburn says, he wouldn’t have gotten his seat on the House Appropriations Committee….

…But that didn’t stop the other candidates from calling. Sen. Joe Lieberman called Clyburn and said, “If things don’t go well for Gephardt, I want to be your second choice.” Kerry called a day later and said essentially the same thing. So did Howard Dean and Clark and Edwards, who laid it on rather thick.

“I just want you to know,” Edwards told Clyburn, according to Clyburn, “that your endorsement of Dick Gephardt underscores everything I ever heard about you.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Clyburn said.

“That you’re intensely loyal to your friends,” Edwards said. “I understand that. But if things don’t go well, I want your consideration.”

Since Christmas, Edwards has called “about 13, 14 times,” Clyburn says. Once, while Clyburn sat next to Gephardt on his campaign bus, he felt his phone vibrating. It was Edwards calling to whisper sweet nothings in Clyburn’s ear even as his main presidential squeeze sat a few feet away, oblivious.

Clyburn is arguably more important to Edwards than to the other candidates because South Carolina is more important to Edwards. Edwards, who was born in South Carolina and who represents North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, is banking heavily on a strong showing in the South. He needs South Carolina. He needs Jim Clyburn.

Last spring, before a debate in Columbia, Edwards made the mistake of leaving Clyburn’s annual fish fry before the other candidates. That irked some members of Clyburn’s staff, and Edwards called the next morning to apologize.

When Dean offended many Southerners by saying he wanted to be the candidate “for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks,” he promptly called Clyburn to explain himself. Kerry calls to update Clyburn on the latest tracking polls and endorsements. Al Sharpton told Clyburn early on that he wouldn’t ask for his endorsement because he didn’t want to get between him and Gephardt. But he’s been in touch lately.

Clark called Wednesday, and Kerry, and Dean. “I think Dean called today,” Clyburn says. Or was it yesterday? “These days are running together.”

Edwards just called again, too. From Greenville, S.C., where he was headed to the airport to catch a flight to New Hampshire. “I wish I didn’t have to go up to New Hampshire,” Clyburn recalls Edwards saying. Clyburn empathized, mentioned something about the cold and the snow….

If Edwards ever goes five days without calling — unimaginable as that is — Clyburn says he won’t hold it against him.

Clyburn is still a little depressed about Gephardt’s loss. Gephardt called Clyburn the morning after Iowa to thank him for everything. “It was a little bit emotional,” Clyburn says of the call. “You want to see your friend do well.”

Lucky for Clyburn, he has so many good friends calling to console him. To assure him that, indeed, Dick Gephardt is a good man, a decent man, and he’ll be missed.

And, oh, about that endorsement . . .

Remaining Schedule:
1/27: Wesley Clark
1/28: John Edwards
1/29: John Edwards
1/29: 12 noon, Lunch forum with Wesley Clark, Margarette H. Miller Cosmetology Center, 1509 Fontaine Road, Columbia
1/29: Democratic Primary Debate, Peace Center for the Performing Arts, Greenville
1/30: 8:30 p.m., John Edwards - Hootie & the Blowfish Concert, Jillian’s, 800 Gervais St., Columbia

Complete coverage at Google News and SC Hotline.

Yesterday’s Primary News