Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator in American history, announced Monday he is endorsing Barack Obama's White House bid.
Byrd, 90, has served as West Virginia's senator for nearly fifty years, and is one of the chamber's most vocal critics on the war in Iraq.
"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," Byrd said in a statement released by his office. "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 that 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," Byrd also said. "Barack Obama is a noble-hearted patriot and humble Christian, and he has my full faith and support."
The endorsement is not without symbolism. Byrd was a leader of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan as a young man and was, along with several southern Democrats, an opponent of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He has since denounced his previous views on racial segregation.
West Virginia's other senator, Jay Rockefeller, endorsed Obama earlier this year. Hillary Clinton carried the state by 41 points last week.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Ku Klux Klan Leader Endorses Obama
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2 comments:
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This is amazing news, and demonstrates just how capable people are of changing for the better over a lifetime.
However, I question the use of the (obviously Photoshopped) image of the elder Sen. Byrd in a Klan costume. While I "get" the symbolic nature of the image, it strikes me as rather disrespectful of Byrd the Elder, who is not the man the image appears to portray.
It would have been better to find an actual photo of Byrd in Klan gear as a young man, if it were necessary to have one at all... which I doubt.
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