CHARLESTON — Whatever his impact elsewhere, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden can make a difference in South Carolina, where tens of thousands of the state’s residents watched or heard his moving tribute at Strom Thurmond’s funeral seven years ago. A writer for the Washington Post called it “Strom’s last laugh -- for what else could explain a Northeastern liberal’s presence?”

 

Elected to the Senate at 29 and fired up by his commitment to civil rights, the Delaware senator combined affection, respect and humor in a powerful eulogy. Their offices opened next door to each other in the Senate’s Russell Office Building. They became friends.

 

Biden recalled that as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the eve of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Robert Bork, he had been “accused of something terrible.” Before the full committee, Biden said he was stepping down as chairman “so it will not affect this proceeding.”

 

He looked at the Thurmond children on a front row of Columbia’s First Baptist Church, telling them, “… the first man to jump to his feet was your father, and he said, ‘No.’

 

“ I said, ‘Well, let me explain.’ He said, ‘You don’t have to explain anything to me. You’re my chairman.’”

 

With that, Biden continued, everyone stood up, “but Strom Thurmond was the first man on his feet -- did not seek a single explanation for what I had been accused of.”

 

Biden recalled, “I disagreed deeply with Strom on the issue of civil rights and on many other issues, but I watched him change. We became good friends. I’m not sure exactly why or how it happened, but we did. And Fritz could never figure it out. Neither could I ...

 

“Like all of us, Strom was a product of his time. But he understood people. He cared for them. He truly wanted to help. He knew how to read people, how to move them, how to get things done. I’ll never forget we went down and sat in a room with President Reagan and Ed Meese, and Strom started to try to convince the president to sign onto our bill, and he turned to me and he said, ‘Joe, explain it to them.’ So I did my little bit, and it looked like the president was coming along.

 

“And I swear to the Lord in the Lord’s house this a true story, and with that, as Ed Meese ... thought the president might be convinced, Ed Meese stood up and said, ‘Mr. President, time to go, time to go.’ With that, the president very dutifully looked -- not dutifully, but very respectfully -- looked over and he said. ‘I have to go.’ And he had his hands on the table, and the president went to get up, and Strom grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.”

 

With interruptions of laughter, Biden continued.

 

“I never saw anybody do that to a president.

 

“The president -- true story -- the president looked very sternly at Strom, and Strom said with his hands still on his arm, he said, ‘Mr. President, when you all get to be my age, you’ll understand you’ve got to compromise.’ (Laughter)

 

“And the president then was about 75 years old.”

 

Biden spoke of seeing Strom change. “For the man who will see, time heals, time changes, and time leads him to truth. But only a special man like Strom would have the courage to accept it, the grace to acknowledge it, and the humility in the face of lasting enmity and mistrust to pursue it until the end.”

 

Any hostility to Biden in South Carolina this fall likely will be limited to the unknowing. Does it mean that an Obama-Biden ticket actually has a chance to carry South Carolina this fall? A massive voter registration effort that continues, and a demonstrated ability to get out his vote, gave Barack Obama a huge win in the South Carolina primary, with overwhelming black support and 25 percent of the white vote against two strong opponents.

 

John McCain remains the perceived favorite in South Carolina, but Joe Biden provides the perfect balance here for Obama. If their campaign targets South Carolina, I see it as too close to call.

* Jack Bass, co-author with Marilyn Thompson of two biographies of Strom Thurmond: ‘Ol Strom and Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond, is a member of the history faculty at The Citadel.

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