Hillary or Barack? Black Leaders Are Torn

Congressman: 'The black body politic is not a monolithic movement'
By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 1, 2007 12:50 PM CST
Hillary or Barack? Black Leaders Are Torn
Joe Reed,left, Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Convention, gives Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton D- N.Y. their official endorsement for president with local Commissioner Sheila Smoot in Hoover, Ala. on Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007 (AP Photo/Butch Dill)   (Associated Press)

With the primary season heading into crunch time, black leaders are facing a complex question: Who gets the endorsement, Clinton or Obama? Clinton gets high marks for electability, the Washington Post reports, but many find it  wrenching to turn their backs on a viable black candidate. "The black body politic is not a monolithic movement that goes the same way," says one Georgia pol. "That's the way it should be."

The black vote is potentially critical, the Post notes, with states such as South Carolina and Alabama taking on a greater importance in the primaries. As Obama and Clinton line up their high-profile endorsements, comedian Chris Rock sums up the dilemma by noting that black voters will be "real embarrassed" if they back Clinton and Obama wins. "You'd say, 'I had that white lady! What was I thinking?' " (More endorsement stories.)

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