COLUMBIA, S.C. – James Clyburn sat at a desk in a slowly emptying ballroom on election evening, his chin resting on his proper fist as he combined Jack Daniel’s from one glass and Food regimen Coke from one other.

He watched the large display screen within the middle of the room the place MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Pleasure Reid introduced state election outcomes. South Carolina, as anticipated, was known as for President Donald Trump. The group, sporting masks and unfold out throughout the ballroom, groaned.

Within the days main as much as Election Day, the Home majority whip had campaigned throughout his dwelling state pleading with South Carolinians to observe his lead, to vote for Joe Biden and his operating mate, Kamala Harris. He known as on them to help a youthful era in Congress who might take the lead.

There was a barbeque, a drive-in, a night rally, watch events, visits to polling websites and back-to-back interviews. It was an unforgiving tempo and a dangerous one for an 80-year-old Black man within the midst of a pandemic.

As a younger man, Clyburn had confronted down baton-waving sheriff deputies so the subsequent era of African People might sit at any lunch counter, store at any division retailer and go to any faculty. Now, right here he was once more, attempting to make America stay as much as its promise of a simply nation.

He was troubled by racial divisiveness ripping on the nation’s material, the novel coronavirus crippling Black and brown communities, the nation’s poor getting poorer. He feared one other 4 years below Trump.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the Home majority whip, addressed a crowd at a marketing campaign rally Nov. 1, 2020 in Hollywood, South Carolina.

The current deaths of the Rev. C.T. Vivian and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, his buddies and fellow civil rights legends, made extra pressing the necessity to prepared the subsequent era of leaders.

At stake was the goodness of the nation.

“This ain’t about me. It is about my youngsters, it is about my grandchildren, and all others which are equally located,’’ Clyburn mentioned. “It’s all in regards to the future.”

Within the ballroom, Clyburn’s telephone buzzed. He checked out his iPhone 11 and clicked the inexperienced settle for button earlier than entering into the corridor.

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It was Joe Biden, calling to thank him.

“I’d by no means be on this place, however for you,’’ Clyburn heard him say.

“You’re fairly welcome,’’ Clyburn answered.

It wasn’t wanting good. Trump had an early lead, together with in key battleground states.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat and Home majority whip, visited a polling web site on Election Day Nov. 3, 2020 in Columbia, South Carolina.

Clyburn walked out of the ballroom simply previous midnight, forsaking half-empty glasses. He remained hopeful America would select a special course.

“I didn’t count on for it to be that tight,” Clyburn mentioned. However “I by no means thought we have been going to lose.”

A renewed combat for civil rights

Two days earlier than Election Day, Clyburn stepped out of a black Suburban sporting well-worn Adidas sneakers and a T-shirt that learn, “VOTE.” Contained in the O was “SC State College 1896,” for his alma mater, South Carolina State College.

Clyburn pulled up his darkish blue masks emblazoned with the phrases “Majority Whip J. Clyburn.”

The scent of fish frying crammed the air, a nod to a Clyburn marketing campaign custom.

A gaggle of reporters thrust tape recorders towards his chest and requested about Biden’s prospects. “He is achieved a lot better in South Carolina than anyone thought he would,’’ Clyburn advised them.

Clyburn is credited with serving to revive Biden’s struggling marketing campaign earlier this yr. Simply days earlier than South Carolina’s main, Clyburn gave Biden his coveted endorsement, serving to him nail a decisive win and offering his marketing campaign with unstoppable momentum.

Outdoors the group middle in Hollywood, a small city close to Charleston, Clyburn labored his means by means of the group. Some posed for footage. Others swarmed in like he was a deacon bearing excellent news.

“Optimistic’’ by Sounds of Blackness boomed within the background.

James and Emily Clyburn pose for an image on their wedding ceremony day June 24, 1961.

Clyburn grew up in a detailed household within the small metropolis of Sumter.

In 1960, he and Lewis have been each 20 years previous once they met on the organizing assembly of the Pupil Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a power within the civil rights motion. As a school scholar, Clyburn helped lead greater than 1,000 college students dressed of their Sunday greatest on a march downtown for a sit-in at segregated lunch counters.

It was one in every of many occasions when Clyburn’s activism landed him in jail. He was locked up when he met a fellow demonstrator and his future spouse, Emily England. They might be married 58 years and have three daughters – Mignon, Jennifer and Angela – earlier than she handed away final fall.

In 1992, Clyburn was elected the primary African American to serve in Congress from South Carolina since Reconstruction. A wall in his management suite within the U.S. Capitol is lined with Black males who represented South Carolina in Congress within the late 1800s.

In his 27 years in Congress, Clyburn has pushed to revive a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; advocate for extra funds for traditionally Black faculties and universities; and work to protect civil rights landmarks and tradition, together with the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Hall alongside the coast.

With the current passing of Lewis, Clyburn mentioned some colleagues see him because the “ethical conscience of the Congress.’’

He desires others to fill that position.

“What he’s doing now is not only getting ready, however ensuring the subsequent era of leaders are overprepared for the second,” mentioned Antjuan Seawright, a political adviser to Clyburn.

Reps. John Lewis, James Clyburn, Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel communicate with supporters outdoors the Capitol on June 23, 2016.

It had been months since Clyburn commonly campaigned in individual. The pandemic had sidelined him. He misplaced a 79-year-old cousin, Almeta Sinclair, to COVID-19 in April.

With Election Day approaching, Clyburn ventured out.

“God retains his angels protected,’’ Seawright mentioned. “There’s little question that Jim Clyburn is one in every of God’s closest angels.”

On this Sunday, Clyburn was campaigning to get extra Democrats in Washington, together with South Carolina’s Jaime Harrison, who was operating for the Senate, and U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham, who was attempting to maintain his seat.

Clyburn hoped a victory for Harrison, a former aide and protege, over GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, would ship a sign that vitriol rhetoric and racial divisiveness weren’t acceptable, not within the South, not within the nation.

“We are going to see a New South that’s daring, that’s inclusive, that’s numerous, the place all of our voices are valued and heard,” Harrison repeated in his stump speech.

Clyburn, who pushed for a Black girl to be on Biden’s ticket, additionally knew what it will imply if Harris received as the primary girl vice president-elect and the primary African American and Asian American to serve within the position. Her run had generated help and pleasure from a military of Black girls, together with his personal daughters and granddaughters.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the Home majority whip, slipped off his masks at a marketing campaign rally in Hollywood, South Carolina, Nov. 1, 2020.

Clyburn was pushed to remain on the marketing campaign path, together with nearly, by what he noticed because the unraveling of the nation.

It bothered him that individuals needed to take to the streets over police brutality and inequities, very like he and others did within the 1960s.

He was offended that the federal authorities hadn’t achieved sufficient to assist Black and brown communities which were hit disproportionately arduous by the novel coronavirus. He heads an oversight panel on COVID-19.

Clyburn has complained about Trump’s efforts to strip away provisions of the Inexpensive Care Act, his assaults on mail ballots and his dealing with of the COVID 19 pandemic.

“We have now a president who has determined that it’s way more necessary to win a political argument than to supply security and safety for all our residents,’’ Clyburn advised the group in Hollywood.

“Amen,” some shouted again.

Nichole Inexperienced attended a marketing campaign rally in North Charleston on Nov. 1, 2020, the place she waited to speak to South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn. “I feel the world of him,” she mentioned. “He will get issues achieved.”

After the speech, Clyburn received again into the Suburban manned by his safety element for a 25-mile journey to North Charleston. He did not have time to eat his fried whiting sandwich.

His subsequent occasion was a drive-in rally to stump for Biden, Harrison and Cunningham. Clyburn dominated out climbing onto the again of a black pickup truck serving because the stage. He was too previous for that, he advised the group.

Parked on the entrance row, Nichole Inexperienced waved her Biden/Harris signal by means of her sunroof. She had waited for Clyburn to announce who he would endorse for the state’s main earlier than deciding on a candidate.

“Once I heard it, I used to be like, ‘OK, right here we go…That was the stamp of approval,” mentioned Inexperienced, 46, a former director of the Previous Slave Mart Museum in Charleston.

Cunningham mentioned Clyburn’s backing issues.

“It speaks volumes to have him out right here and to be shoulder to shoulder with this large in historical past,” Cunningham mentioned after the speech. “I don’t know if there’s any larger endorsement in South Carolina.”

Along with his ultimate marketing campaign occasion achieved for the day, Clyburn climbed into the SUV and headed dwelling.

Rep. Joe Cunningham, a Democrat from South Carolina, spoke at a marketing campaign rally in North Charleston, Nov. 1, 2020. He known as it the “honor of my lifetime” to serve with civil rights legends, together with Reps. James Clyburn of South Carolina and the late John Lewis of Georgia.

‘Restoring the goodness’

Early on Election Day, Clyburn’s Suburban pulled as much as the polling web site on the Greenview Park Neighborhood Recreation Middle in Columbia.

He strolled over to a ballot employee stationed on the door. The girl, sporting a blue Hillman Faculty sweatshirt, stood because the congressman neared. Sharon Hanks knew him as “Mr. Clyburn who used to fuss at me.’’

“You don’t even know who I’m,’’ Hanks mentioned as she pulled down her surgical masks.

“Oh, Lord,’’ Clyburn mentioned.

“Jim and Vivian Davis’ daughter,’’ she mentioned.

“Sure!’’ he mentioned. “How’s your mother doing?”

Inside, ballot employees paused from consuming lunch to greet Clyburn, bumping elbows and chatting about their households.

“You make me proud!’’ a girl shouted.

Sharon Hanks, who labored at a polling web site in Columbia, South Carolina, greeted Rep. James Clyburn, the Home majority whip on Nov. 3, 2020. Hanks knew Clyburn lengthy earlier than he turned a congressman. “He was all the time Mr. Clyburn to me,’’ she mentioned.

For Clyburn, group means serving to others, just like the Bible taught him. The son of a minister and chairman of the Democratic Religion Working Group, Clyburn mentioned his religion is on the coronary heart of each vote he casts and each resolution he makes, together with why he helps Biden.

“He’s principally only a good, respectable man,’’ Clyburn mentioned.

“This marketing campaign is all about restoring the goodness of the American folks. This nation’s greatness is below menace as a result of we’ve had an absence of goodness within the White Home.”

He has been impressed by a favourite gospel tune, “Stand” by Donnie McClurkin.

“When there’s nothing left else to do you, simply stand,’’ the tune says.

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn huddled to debate methods together with his political advisor Antjuan Seawright at a marketing campaign rally Nov. 1, 20202 in North Charleston.

Clyburn had a want record for Biden’s administration.

Deal with the lethal virus was on the high.

Subsequent, he desires a presidential fee to check the affect of the 1986, 1988 and 1994 crime payments that despatched 1000’s of Black folks to jail over drug convictions.

“You have to ask your self, ‘How is it that a teen in South Carolina can find yourself in jail for 20 years for doing one thing that is authorized in Colorado and another states,’’ Clyburn mentioned.

He additionally desires extra broadband companies in rural communities, group well being facilities and help for his program aimed toward lowering poverty. He wished a plan to supply protected ingesting water, enhance sewage methods and develop vitality sources.

These insurance policies, Clyburn mentioned, would assist heal racial tensions pushed by an absence of financial alternatives.

“Individuals really feel they’re being left behind,’’ he mentioned. “When folks see that everyone has a seat on the desk, all people advantages from the financial system, then they don’t must blame the opposite individual.”

Rep. James Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, carried out tv and radio interviews Nov. 3, 2020 from his marketing campaign headquarters in Columbia. He urged voters to forged their ballots earlier than the polls closed that evening.

Getting Black voters to the polls

Polls have been slated to shut in a number of hours. Clyburn sat in his marketing campaign headquarters in Columbia decided to get extra Black voters to help Biden.

A Trump win, he mentioned, would finish the nation’s pursuit of a “extra excellent union.”

His workplace had been transformed right into a studio, with two folding tables, two black umbrellas and a studio gentle.

Clyburn did a fast interview on Fox Information. He hopped on a name with a Black-owned gospel station the place he urged listeners to vote earlier than polls closed.

“It’s very critical,” he warned.

There have been extra interviews: MSNBC, NPR, a British information station.

Columbia Metropolis Councilman Sam Davis, left, Mayor Stephen Benjamin (middle), and Rep. James Clyburn huddled outdoors a polling place Nov. 3, 2020 in Columbia, S.C. The three have recognized one another for years.

Clyburn turned down a request from one other gospel radio station. He didn’t like that he was advised he couldn’t discuss a specific candidate. They don’t do this for white friends, he complained.

In between interviews, Clyburn scrolled by means of his telephone studying information experiences. One polling web site in North Carolina had an influence outage and shut down for 45 minutes.

Site visitors was gradual in a single precinct in Philadelphia as a result of most individuals there had already voted. “That’s an excellent factor,’’ Clyburn mentioned to no person particularly.

On his desk was an nearly empty bottle of water and books: “The Disgrace of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Education in America,’’ by Jonathan Kozol and “On Her Personal Floor: The Life and Instances of Madam C.J. Walker” by A’Lelia Bundles.

Clyburn’s communications director, Hope Derrick, advised the congressman that he was invited to cease by the watch occasion on the state Democratic occasion headquarters.

Clyburn nodded, however first he had a video name with the NAACP and voters.

“I can’t go till I end,’’ he mentioned.

His efforts wouldn’t be sufficient.

Jaime Harrison, a Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina, speaks to supporters after his defeat, Nov. 3, 2020.

On election evening within the ballroom, Clyburn staffers rushed over to his desk and whispered in his ear. The Related Press had known as the Senate race. Harrison had misplaced his bid to unseat Graham.

Clyburn’s press workforce rapidly packed up their laptops. The safety element moved into place. The boss wished to talk at Harrison’s watch occasion throughout city.

As soon as there, Clyburn advised Harrison supporters that Harrison could have misplaced the competition, however the younger politician was nonetheless a winner. He had run a aggressive race, generated curiosity amongst younger folks and set the stage for future races. The competition confirmed cracks within the state’s GOP armor.

However Cunningham had additionally misplaced, leaving Clyburn once more because the lone Democrat within the South Carolina delegation.

With that actuality settled in, Clyburn stayed up late that Friday to listen to what Biden would inform the nation. Clyburn was “rattling drained.” Biden was supposed to talk at eight p.m. He began close to 11.

“You understand what three hours out of the lifetime of an 80-year previous is?” Clyburn mentioned.

Nonetheless, he listened to Biden promise, “We’re going to win.”

South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, the bulk whip, chatted with Trav Robertson, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Occasion, at a drive-in rally Nov. 2, 2020 in Orangeburg. “Having him in management is a present that can’t be overstated or overvalued,” Robertson mentioned.

The following morning, Clyburn turned on the tv whereas he made waffles and sausage for his household.

Anchors promised bulletins in regards to the race. However that they had made these guarantees earlier than. Clyburn determined to go on his common weekend golf outing together with his buddies.

He was on the 15th gap when a member of his safety element hurried over to inform him the race had been known as. Clyburn stored taking part in.

“I used to be main. I used to be profitable all the cash,’’ he mentioned with amusing.

One other officer came to visit and advised him that Zoom calls have been being arrange at dwelling. He needed to depart.

Clyburn would later study that Trump had additionally been on a golf course when information of Biden’s victory broke.

“I used to be having a greater day than he was,’’ Clyburn mentioned.

James and Andria Jeffries attended a marketing campaign rally Nov. 2, 2020 in Orangeburg, South Carolina. The Jeffries mentioned many citizens waited for Clyburn’s endorsement. “He’s sincere and other people belief him,” Andria Jeffries mentioned.

On the journey dwelling, Clyburn thought in regards to the challenges forward, together with getting laws by means of Congress and onto Biden’s desk, particularly if Republicans hold management of the Senate.

He questioned whether or not Biden and GOP Senate chief Mitch McConnell would work collectively. They’d served collectively within the Senate earlier than Biden served as vp to President Barack Obama.

“I am hoping that their relationship will likely be such that he’ll deal with Biden higher than he handled Obama,” Clyburn mentioned.

Clyburn was proud that almost 80 million People voted for Biden, however disillusioned that almost 74 million forged ballots for Trump.

He wasn’t stunned the nation was so divided. He grew up within the Deep South the place he was banned from consuming at whites-only lunch counters. He served in Congress with former segregationists. He heard Trump say there have been “positive folks on either side” after white supremacists paraded by means of Charlottesville, Virginia, with torches in 2017 and a protester was killed.

“This nation has been divided ever since 1619. This nation had 244 years of slavery. That’s 10 generations. After which we went (by means of) one other 4, 5 generations of apartheid,’’ he mentioned. “You might have a president who has exploited the racial animus on this nation. It’s towards Black folks. It’s towards brown folks. It’s towards Jews. Anyone who ain’t like him. That’s a actuality. If I am going round getting mad about that I’ll be mad all day, on daily basis.”

In coming days, as Biden names his high employees and Cupboard picks, Clyburn received’t be on the record. He was re-elected this month as the bulk whip.

Clyburn inspired colleagues jockeying for these posts. However he wasn’t .

That is my final job, he advised them.

Comply with Deborah Barfield Berry on Twitter at @dberrygannett

Rep. James Clyburn (proper), Bakari Sellers (middle) and Clyburn’s daughter, Jennifer Clyburn Reed, take heed to a speaker at a marketing campaign rally Nov. 2, 2020 in Orangeburg, S.C. Sellers, a political commentator and former state consultant, mentioned Joe Biden would have received South Carolina’s main, “however the way in which that he received and the resounding nature that he received, Clyburn positively helped push that excessive. “

This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: How Joe Biden received with Black voters and a giant push from James Clyburn

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