Clinton picks up emotional endorsements from black women in South Carolina

[Purveyor]

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton gathered emotional endorsements Friday from two prominent black women who implored blacks to set aside their excitement about her rival Barack Obama’s campaign to be the first black president.

In the run-up to Saturday’s South Carolina Democratic primary, the first in which blacks could play a pivotal role, Clinton has spoken to mostly white audiences while her husband, Bill, the former president, has courted blacks. But that changed Friday when she made an explicit pitch for black support in a speech at a historically black college in South Carolina’s state capital surrounded by prominent black supporters.

The New York senator was welcomed to the stage by two black colleagues from her home state — former New York Mayor David Dinkins and House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel — who praised Clinton as a public servant and friend.

Polls show blacks strongly supporting Obama in the state, while Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards roughly split the white vote.

Stacey Jones, a Benedict College Dean who described herself as "a woman, an African American, a size 9 wide and any other label you choose to use," said she understood why many blacks might pause before voting Saturday for Clinton.

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http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1068976