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At last, freshman Dem Clarke endorses Hillary |
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By Jonathan E. Kaplan
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Posted: 07/12/07 07:04 PM [ET] |
Democratic Rep. Yvette Clarke (N.Y.) endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president yesterday, after months of withholding support because a top Clinton aide advised one of Clarke’s primary opponents ahead of last year’s midterm election. Clinton now has secured the support of the entire New York congressional delegation.
Howard Wolfson, a top Clinton adviser, helped New York City Councilman David Yassky, who is white and Jewish, during a four-way primary. While Clinton did not endorse a candidate in the primary, Clarke and others viewed Wolfson’s presence in Yassky’s campaign as an endorsement from Clinton.
“He’s such a visible part of the [Clinton] apparatus,” Clarke told The Hill yesterday.
Wolfson did not respond to a request for comment.
In an interview on a local New York City television news program in April, Clarke said Wolfson’s involvement in Yassky’s campaign “raises a big flag, you know, puts up an antenna because again that was an issue that the community was very ill at ease with.”
Clarke added, “And we’ve had some conversations about it, to be quite honest with you. And I think that that needs to be addressed in order for the community to feel that something like that would not occur again.”
By entering the race, Yassky angered Clarke and some black activists and voters because of the district’s place in the civil rights movement. In 1968, New Yorkers elected the first black woman to Congress — Shirley Chisholm — when the Brooklyn-based district was created. Chisholm ran for president in 1972 and won the votes of delegates at the convention.
Clarke narrowly defeated Yassky, a state senator, and Rep. Major Owens’s (D-N.Y.) son in the four-way race to succeed Owens, who retired after 24 years in Congress.
For months, Clarke labored over the endorsement decision, and she even met with Clinton in June. The congresswoman made up her mind over the July 4 recess and the Clinton campaign announced the endorsement on Monday. But Clarke had not spoken publicly about her choice until now.
“There was a lot of pressure to present a … united delegation,” Clarke said in an interview yesterday. “I just wanted an accurate reading of my constituents.”
Clinton said yesterday in a statement, “Yvette is a dynamic and thoughtful legislator committed to lifting up the people of her district and continuing the legacy of Shirley Chisholm.”
A rising star in New York City politics and now in Congress, the other Democratic presidential candidates, including Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), sought Clarke’s endorsement.
“I encouraged [Obama] to continue his race,” she said about their discussion.
In 2004, Clarke endorsed then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.).
While Clarke and Clinton have made up politically, primary-related bitterness lingers.
Clarke ran into Wolfson earlier this spring at a meeting between New York congressional Democrats and Clinton’s top campaign aides.
“He was apologetic,” Clarke said, adding that Wolfson should have been more practical. “He should have said to Yassky, ‘Stand down, give me a pass.’”
Clarke mistakenly announced her decision from her congressional office, which is a violation of House rules. She withdrew the release and re-sent from her campaign office.
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