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Clyburn,
who is currently chairman of the House Democratic Caucus,
so far is the only Democrat openly lobbying for the
whip position.
But
black leaders, who feel they've been passed over for
top appointments in the past, are waging a pre-emptive
campaign to fend off potential challenges to Clyburn,
particularly from Illinois Democrat Rahm Emanuel, who
heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette also is mentioned as
a possible candidate.
Emanuel
and Degette will not say whether they are angling for
the job.
"He's
laser-focused on Nov. 7," Emanuel spokeswoman Kathleen
Connery said. "He feels like he owes it to his
contributors, candidates and his caucus to deliver on
Nov. 7."
Emanuel,
a former top Clinton administration adviser, is stepping
down as DCCC chairman after the election, and Democrats
could seek to reward him if he engineers a Democratic
takeover of the House.
At
the same time, however, black voters are a cornerstone
of the Democratic base: Nearly nine out of 10 black
voters are Democrats, and black lawmakers argue that
the party has an obligation to recognize the power of
that constituency.
"There
are people who believe that the party has taken minority
voters for granted, and I'm sure the absence of diversity
in leadership ranks would be another factor that people
would take into account," Watt said.
It
wouldn't be "a retaliatory kind of thing"
if Clyburn didn't win the post, Watt said. Instead,
"I think we would expect it to be a natural thing
that the party would reflect the diversity of its membership,"
he said.
Democrats
are scheduled to hold leadership elections Nov. 16.
The
black caucus, which has 43 members, has appointed freshman
North Carolina Democrat G.K. Butterfield to lobby Democrats
on behalf of Clyburn.
Clyburn,
meanwhile, has campaigned in more than two dozen congressional
districts, helping expand his network. The seven-term
lawmaker said he has talked with roughly 150 Democrats,
including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, about becoming
whip. He said he has "every reason in the world
to believe that she'd be very supportive of my being
whip."
"I
don't make a big deal out of the fact that I'm African-American,"
he said of his bid. "What I try to do is conduct
myself in a way that when I ask somebody to do something,
they say, 'Well he has a right to ask.' ... I wouldn't
ask anybody to make sacrifices without making my own
sacrifices."
The
whip, charged with helping set legislative strategy
and keeping members in line with leadership on key votes,
has often been a springboard to higher posts.
Former
Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, for example,
earned his nickname as "The Hammer" while
twisting arms as Republican whip in the 1990s.
Clyburn,
66, said he would take a gentler tack.
"My
approach would be more of an olive branch approach than
a sledgehammer," he said. "You catch many
more flies with honey than you do with vinegar."
If
he were to win the post, Clyburn would join Pennsylvania
Democrat William Gray as the highest-ranking black member
of Congress in history. Gray served as majority whip
from 1989 to 1991.
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