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Clyburn's
endorsement comes as Clinton battles rival Bernie Sanders for
the support of blacks in the South Carolina contest on Feb. 27,
when more than half of the voters are likely to be black.
Polls show Clinton with a solid double-digit lead in South
Carolina, fueled by strong African-American support. Clyburn's
backing could help solidify that lead.
"Campaigns are and should be about the future, and I believe
that the future of the Democratic Party and the United States of
America will be best served with the experience and know-how of
Hillary Clinton as our 45th president," Clyburn said at a news
conference in South Carolina.
Clyburn, the No. 3 ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of
Representatives and the only Democrat in Congress from South
Carolina, stayed neutral in the bitter 2008 race between Clinton
and Barack Obama.
But he said he decided to get involved this time because Clinton
was well positioned to tackle many of the challenges facing
minorities and the country.
"Hillary Clinton is a fighter, and that's what we need for our
next president," Clyburn said.
Clinton and Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, have been
courting support from black civil rights leaders and voters as
the Democratic race has moved on from mostly white Iowa, where
Clinton narrowly won, and New Hampshire, where Sanders routed
Clinton.
For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog,
“Tales from the Trail”
(http://blogs.reuters.com/talesfromthetrail/).
(Reporting by John Whitesides and Megan Cassella; Editing by
Phil Berlowitz)
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