by Christi Parsons
COLUMBIA, S.C.–Rep. Charles Rangel and former New York Mayor David Dinkins joined Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail Friday, appearing with her first thing in the morning at Benedict College, a historically black school.
Rangel went straight to the point of whether he, as an African American, should be supporting Barack Obama for president instead of Clinton.
“Some people have asked me,” he said, “‘Do I feel awkward supporting the senator when her opponent is of color?'”
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In answering, the New York congressman took a slight jab at Obama, who speaks so often of the country’s future with use of the word “hope.”
“I find it very easy to say, ‘Who do you know who can do the job?'” Rangel said. “As opposed to, ‘Who do you hope and dream could do the job?'”
Rangel told the crowd members they’d “better think in terms of how we can have a great country” and “make sure we don’t dream about a better tomorrow, that we make sure that we move forward.”
Dinkins praised Clinton for paying her dues, and for showing up in the Senate and “realizing she was one of 100 senators . . . She did everything but fetch coffee for the Republican senators, and she won them over.”
“Lofty rhetoric is nice,” he said, “but ultimately you’ve got to govern. And we need somebody who has the capacity to govern.”
Clinton praised both of the two leaders, placing a heavy emphasis on how they earned their way through the world.
Noting Rangel’s powerful position as head of the House Ways and Means Committee, Clinton said, “He didn’t get there by leapfrogging. He got there by lots of hard work, day in and day out, week in and week out.”
Of Dinkins, she said, “He gave himself to public service in the city that we love . . . He served as mayor at a very difficult time. David always zeroed in on what would matter to people’s lives.”
She didn’t say anything about Obama’s resume, which her camp considers a bit thin. Then again, it was a well-educated crowd, and they probably got the point.