Hillary Buys Black Support In South Carolina

For a few hundred thousand dollars Hillary Clinton has obtained the highly pursued endorsement of an influential South Carolina senator who also happens to be the pastor of the state’s largest black church.

Clinton’s main rival for the Democratic Presidential nomination, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, also fought for Senator Darrell Jackson’s endorsement but evidently Clinton offered the highest bid. The former First Lady signed a contract with Jackson’s public relations firm for $210,000 and days later the legislator, who is also the pastor of the Bible Way Church of Columbia, vowed his support.

Besides holding public office, Jackson is considered a prized political consultant who pockets lucrative sums from his public relations firm named Sunrise Enterprise. Several presidential candidates have been fighting for Jackson’s support because it will undoubtedly translate into a lot of votes on Election Day.

In fact Jackson has bragged that his coveted endorsement has been sought by almost all Democratic candidates, including Obama, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and North Carolina Senator John Edwards. One newspaper printed an electronic mail exchange between Obama’s campaign and Jackson that reveals how close the popular Illinois lawmaker got to obtaining the highly sought endorsement.

Evidently, Obama didn’t offer Jackson enough money. According to one reliable report, a senior strategist for Obama was on the verge of sealing a contract with Jackson’s Sunrise Enterprise for $5,000 a month beginning in mid March.

Clinton, a fundraising machine who began her presidential campaign with millions in the bank, doubled it to $10,000 a month.