pete buttigieg approached to greet the most powerful democrat in south carolina politics. clyburn brushed mayor pete aside, his eyes darted around, and he finally found biden. they huddled together out of earshot of the other candidates. there was not much time before biden had to be back on stage for the final segment of the debate. quote, you have had a couple of opportunities to mention naming a black woman to the supreme court, clyburn lectured his friend of nearly half a century, like a school teacher scolding a child. i m telling you, don t you leave the stage tonight without making it known that you will do that. biden had seem to get it the night before, when clyburn talked to him at a congressional black conk us reception aboard the uss yorktown, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that sat in charleston harbor biden was desperate to get clyburn s endorsement. very few endorsements carry weight in modern politics. in south carolina, though, a perception had built out that clyb