House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), considered the godfather of the South Carolina Democratic primary, believes John Edwards should not be counted out in the Palmetto State — but he needs to win the Nevada caucus to stay viable.

Most of the attention in the Democratic contest has focused on Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), particularly during last week’s bitter racial debate between the two.

“It would certainly impact the outcome in South Carolina,” Clyburn said. “People are not just looking for a candidate of change, they’re looking for a candidate who can win. The best way to lay yourself out as a winner is to have won.”

A two-state run by Edwards at this point would scramble the race, making it as wide open as the Republican nomination, which has at least three front-runners.

“I’ve been telling people, don’t think because it happens to them [Republicans] that it can’t happen to us,” Clyburn said.
But if Edwards wins neither Nevada nor South Carolina, added Clyburn, he will be done.

Clyburn has steadfastly refused to endorse in the race. His remarks on the viability of Edwards fit with his stated goal of keeping the S.C. primary as competitive as possible, and therefore more relevant.

Clyburn’s work in the civil rights movement made him a leader in the South Carolina African-American community.

His ascension to the No. 3 leadership post in the House has won him the admiration of the whole state, and helped him lay the groundwork for what is shaping up as a crucial Democratic primary.

The primary has brought the black vote front and center in the Democratic contest, since African-Americans make up about half the Democratic vote in South Carolina.

But that focus threatened to boil over last week over when Clinton made remarks that some black voters found disparaging of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Clyburn, too, was dismayed and said he was rethinking his neutral stance.

He said he started getting calls from Obama supporters, but added that the most fervent pitch came from BET founder Bob Johnson, a Clinton supporter whom he knew when Johnson was a congressional staffer.

“The person who talked to me the most was Bob Johnson,” Clyburn said. “It wasn’t Obama people beating up on me, it was Hillary Clinton.”

Clyburn said it was his daughter, Mignon, who told him to stick to his pledge to hold off on endorsing.

“W-H-O-A, whoa, was her message to me,” Clyburn said. On Tuesday, he joined Clinton and Obama in a truce on the race debate and reaffirmed his commitment not to endorse, saying his obligation is to make the South Carolina primary important. “I have an obligation not to jeopardize that,” he said.

Clyburn said he believes the truce has held and that candidates have returned to discussing the issues that matter in the contest, such as Iraq and healthcare.

Clyburn also agreed with those who said Obama’s victory in Iowa, a state with few minorities, caused skeptical African-Americans to believe there could really be a black president.

“It changed the thought process,” he said. “It changed the thinking.”