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Foes 'Question Our Blackness,' Clintonites Say

Unanticipated Obama surge puts heat on high-profile supporters

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 19, 2008 2:40 PM CST

(Newser) – Hillary Clinton’s African-American supporters may once have thought they were making the safe choice, but now that the black community is rallying behind Barack Obama, her boosters' instincts and loyalty are being questioned, the Washington Post reports. The heat is so high that 25 senior boosters had a conference Friday to rally against what one called an effort to “pester, intimidate, question our blackness.”

The mayor of Trenton, who is black, urged supporters to “stand up and say why you’re for Hillary Clinton in the face of adversity.” He’s angry that Obama surrogates are pressuring black Clintonites. African Americans who boosted Walter Mondale over Jesse Jackson in 1984 were later booed, bringing Coretta Scott King to tears—and drawing an apology from Jackson.

Democratic presidential hopeful,Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga,. meet during a campaign stop in this Friday, Oct. 12, 2007 file photo, in Atlanta in which Lewis officially endorsed Clinton's candidacy for president.   When civil rights elders signed on to support Clinton's run for president,...
Democratic presidential hopeful,Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga,. meet during a campaign stop in this Friday, Oct. 12, 2007 file photo, in Atlanta in which Lewis officially...   (Associated Press)
Boston Hosts the DNC
Boston Hosts the DNC   (Getty Images)
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, introduces Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at a campaign stop at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, Friday, Feb. 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, introduces Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., at a campaign stop at Charles F. Brush High School in Lyndhurst, Ohio, Friday, Feb....   (Associated Press)
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