Palmetto Public Record was really looking forward to covering U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn’s speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night. We obtained an embargoed copy of the speech earlier in the day, and it definitely pulls no punches.
In fact, your faithful editor was so looking forward to covering the House Minority Whip’s speech that I obtained a floor pass and was just a few feet from the stage when Rep. Clyburn walked right past me — headed in the opposite direction of the stage.
It turns out Clyburn’s big speech has been moved to Thursday, on the same night as President Obama and Vice President Biden give their acceptance speeches for the Democratic nomination. A DNC official told The State’s Adam Beam the decision to move Clyburn’s speech was due to “overwhelming enthusiasm in the arena and extended applauses.”
Still, it’s big news for Clyburn and for South Carolina. Thursday is undoubtedly the biggest day of the convention, and his speech will be given on a much bigger field — Bank of America Stadium. While Clyburn’s speech doesn’t actually reference South Carolina, the primetime coverage will give a great deal of exposure to the state’s highest-ranking congressman.
Clyburn’s speech is still embargoed, so we can’t share the actual text. However, we can tell you that the speech serves as a brutal attack on Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the overall Republican obstruction to President Obama’s agenda. Clyburn outlines decades worth of Democratic initiatives such as Social Security and Medicare — and places particular emphasis on the Republican opposition to those programs.
The exact time of Clyburn’s speech on Thursday hasn’t been released, so make sure to keep watching Palmetto Public Record for updates. We’ll also post a transcript of the speech when it’s delivered… Whenever that may be.
