Obama champions civil rights theme

By Jim Morrill

ORANGEBURG, S.C. -- In a city where civil rights history was written in blood, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was portrayed this weekend as an heir to African-Americans who paved the way.
"I want to thank him for giving hope and inspiration to a new generation of political activists, for giving life to the sacrifices of Rosa Parks [and] Septima Clark," US Representative Jim Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, said at a rally. "Obama is ready and willing to run today because Rosa Parks sat down and because Septima Clark stood up."
Obama, a US senator from Illinois, picked up the theme Saturday before 2,000 cheering people at historically black Claflin University.
"I have never been in a political campaign where people thought I could win," he said. "At every juncture in history, there has been somebody who said we can't so we shouldn't even try. I am here to tell you, Yes we can."
Obama's appearance followed a Friday night rally in Columbia that drew 3,000 people.
It also occurred days after a black state lawmaker, Senator Robert Ford of Charleston, announced his support for Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and said that if Obama got the nomination, "then everybody else is doomed."
"Every Democrat running on that ticket next year would lose -- because he's black and he's top of the ticket. We'd lose the House and the Senate and the governors and everything," Ford said. He drew widespread criticism for the remarks and later apologized.
Most national polls have shown Clinton and Obama running one-two among Democrats. Today, Clinton will visit South Carolina, where the early 2008 primaries are expected to be pivotal for both parties.
In Orangeburg, Obama cut short his visit so he could return to Washington for a Senate vote. Though he spoke for less than 40 minutes, he was greeted like a rock star.
"In my opinion, he's the first serious African-American candidate for president," said Howard Walls, 54, an engineer who said he is still undecided about whom to support. "It's a dilemma. Doing the right thing culturally or doing the right thing civically."
Norma Price, 65, said Obama represents change and less partisanship.
"We all have the same issues in life whether we're Republicans or Democrats," she said. "And we just have to get together and solve those problems."
Obama, 45, said his campaign is about change. "People are hungry for something new and different," he said. "They want a new kind of politics. They're tired of seeing people tearing each other down."
Obama called Iraq "a war that never should have been authorized," a jab at rivals Clinton and former North Carolina senator John Edwards, who both voted to authorize the war in 2002.
Edwards later recanted his vote. Clinton has said, "If we knew then what we know now," she would not have voted for it.
Obama also talked about education, healthcare, and rural development. Though he offered few specifics, his statements satisfied many listeners.
Obama, Clinton, and Edwards are all vying for support from black voters. In South Carolina's Democratic primary, blacks make up about 50 percent of the vote.
Todd Shaw, a professor of politics and African-American studies at the University of South Carolina, said South Carolina has been good to black candidates before, most notably Greenville native Jesse Jackson, who won the primary in 1988.
The Rev. Randolph Sipio of North Charleston said Obama didn't have to come through the civil rights movement to understand it.
"You don't have to fall off a cliff," he said, "to understand the law of gravity."