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Rep. James Clyburn says Bill Clinton's conduct in the Democratic primary could hurt the party come November. (AP Photo)

The highest ranking black member in Congress issued grave warnings to the Democratic candidates Friday, saying the racially charged contest could turn away black voters and doom the party in November.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, in an interview with FOX News, singled out Bill Clinton for comments he said were not “seemly” and could damage his wife’s presidential campaign if she becomes the nominee. Clyburn on Thursday had told The New York Times that the former president’s “bizarre” conduct had “incensed” the black community.

“I am concerned … that the conduct of this campaign could very well make the nomination not worth having,” Clyburn told FOX News. “Our party is much bigger than Bill Clinton. It is much bigger than Sens. Clinton or Obama. It is a party that is here to serve the American people. … And I don’t want to see us conduct a campaign in such a way that it does irreparable harm to our being able to do that.”

Clyburn voiced concern that if Hillary Clinton beats Barack Obama, she might do so at the expense of the party’s usually loyal black base.

“When this campaign is over, if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, she cannot get elected president if 25-30 percent of black people vote for (John) McCain. She is going to have … to have that same 92 percent of black people that Obama (has) now,” he said. “And if (Obama) is the nominee he is going to need her help and her husband’s help getting white voters that he is not now getting.

“And I don’t see how you can go back to these people and get them to vote for the nominee if you have done all these things and said all of these things about him during the campaign … because you are not going to be able to reverse field in the middle of general election,” he said.

Bill Clinton took heat in late January for equating Obama’s victory in the South Carolina primary to Jesse Jackson’s win in the state 20 years ago. Obama supporters said the remarks were demeaning since they compared him with a black candidate whose appeal was more narrow.

But the comments came up again Monday, when Clinton told a Philadelphia radio station that he believed Obama “played the race card on me” during the incident.

Clyburn said he didn’t understand that.

“Many of the surrogates in the Clinton campaign of recent days have been saying things that have been angering African American voters over again,” he said. “I mean, who played the race card on President Clinton? … What does he mean by that unless he is trying to send some kind of signal on race?”

Clyburn, an influential superdelegate, says he hasn’t taken sides in the Obama-Clinton race, but analysts say he, like many other prominent black politicians, has been swept up in the near-lockstep support that Obama’s historic bid for the presidency enjoys among black voters.

“Jim Clyburn … is squarely in the corner of Sen. Barack Obama,” FOX News contributor Juan Williams said. “Jim Clyburn and a lot of the older black politicians started out with Hillary Clinton because of their long standing ties to the Clinton camp, but as they saw black voters overwhelming going to Barack Obama they have run to the front of the parade.”

Clyburn stressed Friday that he still hasn’t declared whom he will support at the Democratic convention in August.

Obama himself disputed the notion that the contentious tone of the race is doing irreparable harm to the party.

“I never believe in irreparable breaches,” he said Friday. “I’m a big believer in reconciliation and redemption.”

And Hillary Clinton has repeatedly said it’s Obama who’s running the negative campaign.

Asked about a mailing that criticizes her trade stances during a round of local interviews Friday, she sharply rebuked him.

“He’s done this repeatedly and I don’t why he keeps doing it. It’s misleading, it’s factually wrong,” she told a Louisville, Ky., station. “He’s running a very negative campaign below the radar screen with all of his mailings and phone calls.”

FOX News’ Major Garrett contributed to this report.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Top Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.