Pandermonium: Hillary weighs in on Confederate flag ‘issue’ in SC

On the heels of Dem presidential contender Senator Obama’s SC visit, another presidential hopeful – Senator Hillary Clinton – was in Columbia, SC yesterday pandering to about 1,500 people at Allen University. The university, as the AP describes it, is an historically black college. One ‘issue’ Senator Clinton brought up was the Confederate flag, which has been the subject of ongoing controversy in SC to the point that the NAACP’s long-standing boycott on SC is still in effect. Hillary is against the flag being displayed on Statehouse grounds (it used to be displayed on the Statehouse dome), and one of the reasons she’s against it will surprise you:

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.

“I think about how many South Carolinians have served in our military and who are serving today under our flag and I believe that we should have one flag that we all pay honor to, as I know that most people in South Carolina do every single day,” Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview.

LOL! Riiiight. I think this is the flag you were talking about, right, Senator Hillary “withdrawal from Iraq needs to begin in 90 days” Clinton?

Dan Riehl wonders if the Senator was actually talking about lowering the American flag for 90 days.

In other Hillary news, Mrs. Clinton is denying charges that her campaign paid for an endorsement from a prominent black state senator from SC:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton responded to questions about the consulting contract her campaign negotiated with state Sen. Darrell Jackson, who last week endorsed her candidacy rather than of top rivals John Edwards or Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill.

“Senator Jackson was someone who was involved in my husband’s campaigns. He was someone we turned to for political advice and counsel and I’m proud to have him on my team,” Clinton told the AP.

Soon after the endorsement, Jackson acknowledged that his media consulting firm had negotiated a $10,000 per month contract with Clinton’s campaign. Jackson has said he turned down more lucrative contracts from other candidates.

Although he backed Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, in the 2004 Democratic presidential primary, Jackson said he now supports Clinton because she has the best shot of winning the White House.

Mo Elleithee, a Clinton spokesman, said Friday that Jackson’s firm will advise the campaign on “political matters in South Carolina, outreach, organizing issues” and purchasing advertising.

Captain Ed calls it one of the “The Best Endorsements Money Can Buy.”

Don Surber sees a “Bonfire of the Vanities” angle:

In the novel, “Bonfires of the Vanities” the scared white mayor tried to appease black voters by giving awards to black leaders. An aide derisively called them “plaques for blacks.”

In real life, Hillary does him one better: Cash for blacks. She agreed to pay $200,000 to the consulting firm of S.C. state Sen. Darrell Jackson.

He immediately endorsed her.

Betsy Newmark has some questions for the media:

Here are some questions I’d like reporters to research and answer. This seems like a natural to study rather than just reporting what excuse each person involved gives the press. How common is it for state officials to have media consulting firms and also endorse candidates who come to the state? Is a $10,000 monthly contract a normal price for a state of South Carolina’s size a year out from the primary? When did state Senator Jackson establish his media consulting firm? Did he have a similar deal with Bill Clinton? In any other state where candidates have started to receive important endorsements from influential figures do those figures have their own campaign consulting company? Whom else has Darrell Jackson consulted for? Did he endorse them also?

This whole story cries out for more reporting. Are there some reporters in South Carolina who need story ideas?

I’m sure there are, but even in SC the mediots lean left, so I don’t have much hope that this story will pick up much traction. She is, after all, Hillary Clinton – Democrat and the woman who could be the US’ first female president …

Related: Did ya hear that some ‘top Democrats’ would like to see Hillary’s hubby appointed to fill her Senate seat, should she win in ’08?

Update: Check out Hot Air’s Hillary Iraq quotes retrospective.