Hillary/Obama: Battle Over Black Religious Leaders

Hillary and Obama duke it out over religious Black leader support. Where nearly one half of the early primary voters in South Carolina are black, endorsements from the black church leaders can give a candidate more than just "spiritual" backing.

Hillary claimed to have garnered 90 endorsements from black religious leaders across the state. Obama countered with his own support:

Barack Obama's Democratic presidential campaign announced its own list of endorsements from black clergy in the state Tuesday, releasing a list of what it said were 122 senior pastors and three associate pastors of different churches and ministries, including four people it noted as retired. [1]

The Associated Press cried foul when it did a review of Hillary's claimed endorsements.

Associated Press review of an endorsement list supplied by the New York senator's campaign found that some of the backers were affiliated with religious ministries and outreach groups rather than churches, some were wives of ministers, two were church elders and at least two were not members of the churches listed beside their names. [1]

This lowered to the grand total for Hillary to 50 endorsements. Clinton's campaign spokesperson said the 90 number was never meant to imply 90, that they "knew all along that some came from the same organization". Evidently it's now how you count them but how they add up.

How to calculate Black Paster Support Clinton-style:

After being asked for names of the ministers, Clinton's campaign first released a partial list of 44 names. A day later, a list of 82 names was released. That included one name that was repeated twice, several misspelled names, churches listed in the wrong city or with an incorrect name, and a dozen people listed without a church affiliation.

The campaign released revised listings Monday, supplying church affiliations for those left blank and correcting affiliations for others, trimming the list to 81 names.

A review Tuesday of the sign-in sheets showed supporters initially signed separate endorsement forms, giving their names, addresses, phone numbers and occupations. But after those ran out, Wright said, they began signing a single line on a page. Many signed only their names, without affiliations. Some were difficult to read. Some signed both forms. Wright said that's why a complete, accurate list was so difficult to provide.

Wright said the campaign will be "more prepared for exceeding expectations" for any future endorsements. [1]

It's fun to watch Hillary pit herself against Obama. Now we have Hillary's camp s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g the facts about black voter support. Making up stats regarding churches. That incredible video of Hillary doing whatever she's doing.

Ain't politics grand?

By LBG
Image [hyscience.com]
Video - La Shawn Barber's Corner
Source - 1 - Fox News - AP Review: Not All Black 'Pastors' Supporting Clinton Are Ministers

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