In a move that comes as a shock to many, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said Thursday he’s backing Democrat Barack Obama in his presidential bid, giving his support to to Obama “because he’s black” the Rev. Jackson told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Obama, 45, is biracial _ his white mother was from Kansas, his father Kenyan _ and educated at Ivy League universities.
In a statement responding to Jackson’s support, Obama said, “Please don’t tell Jesse my mom is white.”
Jackson could help Obama to secure the support of black voters, a critical bloc in the Democratic primaries.
Jackson has a long history with one of Obama’s chief rivals, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband former President Clinton. He counseled the two when the president’s affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky became public. Of the former president’s affair, Jackson remarked “I, too, have been known to carry a side piece from time to time.”
But Jackson said his history with the Clintons doesn’t complicate his decision to back his home state senator, calling Obama “a black man, like me.”
Asked why he was supporting Obama over his friend Clinton, Jackson answered “because he’s black.”
“It’s not awkward at all,” he added, “Everyone knows black is blind.”
Jackson said Obama has not asked him to campaign for him and he is not in Obama’s inner circle of advisers and fundraisers.
“I just have an appreciation of his skin tone,” Jackson said.
