Clyburn to Bill Clinton: “Chill”

Mon, January 21, 2008 - 12:29 PM

Former President Bill Clinton “needs to chill a little bit," Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. says.

Clyburn, who has not endorsed in the Democratic presidential contest, said in a CNN interview this morning that Bill Clinton should dial back his involvement in the primary battle.

Clyburn’s statement came after Barack Obama, speaking on ABC, said Bill Clinton has “taken his advocacy on behalf of his wife to a level that I think is pretty troubling.”

Bill Clinton had labeled Obama’s claim to have opposed the Iraq war from the start a “fairy tale” and added on other attacks since Iowa’s caucuses that have made the former president emerge as the attack dog for his wife’s campaign.

Clyburn, the house majority whip, and the leading voice of African-American democrats in South Carolina, said “[Bill Clinton] is revered in the African-American community. He can afford to tone it down.”

Without making a solid prediction for which candidate his state’s Democrats would support on Saturday, Clyburn called South Carolina’s black voters “more mature” than other states and offered this analysis: “Older African-Americans will reluctantly decide based on the record. The younger voters will break toward Obama.”

The Real Clear Politics average of recent polls shows Obama leading Hillary Clinton 43 percent to 32 percent, with 14 percent of likely voters favoring John Edwards.

--Neil H. Simon