Byrd supports Obama

From THE CAUCUS
The NY Times Political Blog

May 19, 2008, 1:55 pm
Byrd Supports Obama
By Jeff Zeleny and Katharine Q. Seelye

BILLINGS, Mont. – Less than a week after his state went for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by 41 points, Senator Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia’s senior Democrat, endorsed Senator Barack Obama.
Mr. Byrd, the longest-serving member of the Senate, had purposefully steered clear of showing a preference in the presidential nominating battle between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton ahead of his state’s primary last Tuesday. But today he announced his support for Mr. Obama, declaring: “The stakes this November could not be higher.”
“After a great deal of thought, consideration and prayer over the situation in Iraq, I have decided that, as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention, I will cast my vote for Senator Barack Obama for President,” Mr. Byrd said in a statement. “Both Senators Clinton and Obama are extraordinary individuals, whose integrity, honor, love for this country and strong belief in our Constitution I deeply respect.” “I believe Barack Obama is a shining young statesman, who possesses the personal temperament and courage necessary to extricate our country from this costly misadventure in Iraq, and to lead our nation at this challenging time in history,” added Mr. Byrd, who voted against giving President Bush the authorization to go to war in Iraq in 2002 and has been a vociferous opponent of the war. “Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support.”
Two words worth noting in that statement: “humble Christian.” In the post-mortem of his overwhelming defeat, aides to Mr. Obama suspect many voters believed the misdirected rumors that he was Muslim.
So will the sentiment of Mr. Byrd -– an iconic figure in West Virginia who has served in the Senate since 1958, before Mr. Obama was born -– help allay concerns of some Democrats in a general election? Can Mr. Obama still be competitive in states that he lost by significant margins to Mrs. Clinton?
Above all, that is the question on the minds of Democrats this week.
With the endorsement, Mr. Byrd joins West Virginia’s other senator, Jay Rockefeller, in supporting Mr. Obama.
The endorsement also makes three more superdelegates for Mr. Obama on Monday, on the eve of the primaries in Oregon and Kentucky. Kansas Democratic Party Chair Larry Gates and Washington State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz also announced their support for Mr. Obama.
Mrs. Clinton has been courting Mr. Byrd for some time, and openly did so on Mother’s Day, when she was campaigning in West Virginia in advance of its primary.
She told a small gathering that when she first began serving in the Senate, in 2001, her mother used to watch CSpan to try to catch a glimpse of her daughter. And during her TV-watching, she became familiar with Mr. Byrd, regarded by his colleagues as the chief expert on Senate history and procedure.
Mrs. Clinton said that her mother came to admire Mr. Byrd and hoped one day to meet him. Eventually she brought her mother to lunch with Mr. Byrd and they had a fine old time.
But apparently the personal connection was not strong enough to sway Mr. Byrd to her side as her hopes dwindle for the nomination.
Mr. Byrd’s endorsement of Mr. Obama is all the more interesting considering that as the senator once opposed integrating the military, filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and a young man he was briefly a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Mr. Byrd has frequently expressed regret for his past actions.

I have enormous respect for Senator Byrd.