this is from a book about the biden campaign by reporters jonathan allen and amie parents, lucky how joe biden barely won the presidency. jim clyburn had heard enough, or really not enough. the house democratic whip pushed himself out of his seat at the charleston s center con hert hall. and he dashedch for the exit wi the urgency that a friend recognized as a 79-year-old reason to find a rest room, he needed to find joe biden and fast before the end of a commercial break before the end ofe the presidential debate. february 25th, four days before the south carolina primary and biden was blowing it again. almost an hour and 45 minutes had passed inal the debate alrey and biden hadn t mentioned the one promise jim clyburn said would nail down black votes in south carolina throughout the rest ofso the primary and in th generalre election. clyburn wasan shocked but not stunned. he made a bee line for the
politicalev insiders thought the waspo a part of truth to it. there was no plaque political figure in the history of the state that had more influence in south carolina or the deep south. clyburn wanted to endorseso bid. in fact, he had no intention of endorsing any other candidate. but he could also see how badly the wheels had come off biden s campaign earlier, and he was a savvy enough politician to know that there wasn t much point in endorsing someone who was going to lose. on the uss yorktown the night before the debate, clyburn and a few colleagues offered biden counsel and made what amounted to a political ask. the find a way to say that you are part of picking the first latino woman member of the united statesla supreme court, sonja sotomayor, and you re looking forward toun making the first african american woman a member of the united states supreme court. clyburn said. clyburn believed and there was good evidence to support his supreme court justice was worth a lot more to
if he was elected president. four days before the south carolina primary. it was the first time he had ever made that pledge. you heard the crowd go wild. south carolina congressman jim clyburn endorsed president biden thecl next day. an b incredibly emotional, incredibly affective endorsement. it is credited to this day by many people with joe biden winning south carolina, winning super tuesday and there by winning the democratic presidency and the presidency of the united states. and clyburn told nbc today that what he n credits biden s win i south carolina to is not actually his ownso endorsement joe biden, but what he credit s win in south carolina to is that pledge, thatwi biden made, on t debatepl stage, the night befor his endorsement. that pledge clyburn pushed him backstage to make that an african american woman would finally be nominated to the nation s highest court for the first time in our country s history, if joe biden were elected president. and now here we are today.
backstage area. pete buttigieg approached to greet the most powerful democrat in south carolina politics. clyburn brushed mayor pete assign and his eyes darted around and foundgn biden and he together out of earshot of the other candidates and there wasn t much time until bid-to be back on stage, you ve had a couple of opportunities to mention naming a black woman to the suprememe court. clyburn lectured his friend of nearly half acl century like a schoolteacher scolding a child. i m telling you, don t leave the stage without making it known. and biden had seemed to get it night before, when clyburn talked to him at a congressional black caucus reception aboard the uss yorktown. biden was desperateth to get clyburn s endorsement. very few endorsements carry weight in modern f politics. in south carolina though, awe perception that built up that clyburn s im prime tour meant everything. and and voters believed it and the media believed it and most
frustrated. one opening, two, then, three, why won t he say it, clyburn askedwh himself. finally, he took matters into hisel own hands at that commercl break. backstage, biden looked his friend in the eye and nodded his assurance. clyburn returned to his seat to watch the end of the debate. and then of course, this is what happened at the end of the debate. we talked about the supreme court. i m looking forward to making sure that there s a black woman onsu the supreme court to make sure we in fact get representation. not a joke. notsuac a joke. i ve pushed very hard for that. and my other motto was, as you said, you re defined by your courage, and redeemed by your loyalty,co i m loyal, i do what say. i am loyal, i do what i say. after beingat drowned out brief there by applause,r in the roo. i do what i say. what he said he would do is put an african american woman on supreme court es