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Clinton, Obama Promise Unity Against GOP

By Cash Michaels

Special to the NNPA from the Carolinian

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (NNPA)—In perhaps their most heartfelt assurances thus far amid growing party concerns, Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama promised the second-place finisher will passionately urge their most ardent supporters – many of whom say they will not vote for a Democratic nominee they oppose - to put aside their bitter feelings, and wholeheartedly join with rival Democrats in the fall to beat the Republicans.
   “We have to close ranks, and come together because this is bigger than me, it’s bigger than Sen. Obama, [and] it is bigger than any of my supporters or his,” said Clinton.
    Sen. Clinton’s extraordinary statement came April 28 as she was still fighting mightily against Obama, and her critics, to keep her presidential campaign alive past this week’s crucial May 6 primaries in North Carolina and Indiana.
    In a separate interview, Sen. Obama said, “This campaign is not about myself or Sen. Clinton,” the Illinois Democrat told The Carolinian April 29. “It’s about the American people and the struggles they’re going through.”
   “What I am convinced of is that we cannot afford four more years of the same policies that we’ve seen under George W. Bush, and that’s essentially what John McCain is offering.”
    Well aware that he was speaking to Black North Carolina voters, the majority of whom overwhelmingly support Obama, but have vowed to sit out the general election if he is denied the Democratic Party’s nomination that, they feel, the African-American frontrunner has rightfully earned, Obama said, “We have no choice when it comes to sitting out. We are doing this for our children and our grandchildren.”

   Both Clinton and Obama, engaged in an all-out battle to convince party superdelegates who would be the most viable candidate in November, made their comments exclusively last week during the first ever two-day N.C. Black Publishers Association 2008 NC Black Press Presidential Roundtable.
    Sen. Clinton met with publishers and reporters from the ten-member organization April 28 in Greensboro, while Sen. Obama welcomed the group the next day in Winston-Salem.

Posted May 7, 2008

   
    The historic Black Press roundtables took place prior to NC Gov. Mike Easley’s endorsement of Clinton, and Sen. Obama’s “angry” denunciation of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for a controversial appearance at the National Press Club last week in Washington.
    Clinton’s explicit assurance of post-primary unity came amid recent concerns expressed by House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn [D-SC] and other prominent Democrats that her constant attacks against frontrunner Obama, coupled with the divisive tone and tenor of the Democratic primary race thus far, may leave the party divided, and the eventual nominee damaged in the general election.
    Sen. Obama later told the NC Black Press Presidential Roundtable that if, by some chance, he should lose the Democratic Party nomination, he will remain loyal to the party, and not mount an independent bid for the presidency.
During the two-day sessions, both senators Obama and Clinton reaffirmed their support for universal healthcare, though they differ on the method of delivery, commitment to bring rising gas prices down for the American consumer, and determination to find ways to jumpstart the faltering US economy.
    The NC Black Publishers Association member newspapers include The Carolinian of Raleigh, The Wilmington Journal, The Carolina Times of Durham, The Fayetteville Press, The Iredell County News of Statesville, The Carolina Peacemaker of Greensboro, The Winston-Salem Chronicle, The Minority Voice of Greenville, and Greater Diversity News of Wilmington.
    Spectacular Magazine of Durham is currently an honorary member.
NCBPA President Ernie Pitt, publisher of the Winston-Salem Chronicle, lauded both Democratic candidates for recognizing the importance of the Black Press, and sharing their views with North Carolina’s leading African-American newspapers.

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