Barack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic Presidential primaries in convincing fashion, beating rivals Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.
The Illinois senator carried the state with an impressive 55 percent of the vote, more than double Clinton's 26 percent. John Edwards managed 18 percent of the votes, good enough for third place.
According to exit polls, Obama won 80 percent of the black vote, which comprised about half the electorate in the state. The only demographic Clinton won was the elderly vote.
After the majority of precincts had reported and Obama's victory was obvious; Obama addressed a crowded hall of supporters, who cheered loudly and called for change in unison.
"We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We're looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington - a status quo that extends beyond any particular party," Obama said.
"The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders," he went on to say. "It's not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white. It's about the past versus the future."
Clinton immediately flew to Nashville and later released a statement congratulating Obama on the victory.
We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make their voices heard [in Florida and on Super Tuesday] on Feb. 5. Sen. Hillary Clinton to reporters
Edwards, a South Carolina native, needed a big showing tonight to prove his viability in this race. Although he has yet to win a primary, a member of his campaign told the press that Edwards will not be dropping out after the loss in South Carolina.
With 230 delegates in total, Clinton still leads the Democrats; Obama is not far behind with 152 and Edwards has 61. Even if any of the three were able to win Florida and every delegate on Super Tuesday, the election would not be decided until later states have weighed in with their votes.
The landslide victory gives Obama the momentum that Clinton accumulated in previous primaries. However he heads into the Florida Primaries as an underdog, according to CNN and Rasmussen Polls.
Florida will hold its primary on Tuesday but no democratic delegates will be awarded in the Sunshine State. The state party moved their primary to an earlier date without national apporval and will be penalized in this election.
Comments
JUSTIN commented, on January 27, 2008 at 10:25 a.m.:
A VOTE FOR HILLARY IS A VOTE FOR BUBBA "THE JERK" CLINTON.
NO WAY...WE WANT CHANGE!
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/...
Bubba: Obama Is Just Like Jesse Jackson
January 26, 2008 8:18 PM
Said Bill Clinton today in Columbia, SC: "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here."
This was in response to a question from ABC News' David Wright about it taking "two Clintons to beat" Obama. Jackson had not been mentioned.
Boy, I can't understand why anyone would think the Clintons are running a race-baiting campaign to paint Obama as "the black candidate."
-- jpt
Justin commented, on January 27, 2008 at 10:28 a.m.:
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
Rules? The Clintons Don't Need No Stinkin' Rules!
The Democratic National Committee stripped Michigan and Florida of its delegates for violating scheduling rules for their primaries. It took 365 delegates off the table and forced candidates to stop campaigning in the two vital states. Now one of them -- just coincidentally, the one who somehow forgot to have her name removed from the Michigan ballot -- wants the delegates restored:
In a bit of political theater, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Florida Democratic Party clamored to restore convention delegates that had been stripped by the national party.
At stake: 185 delegates in a state where Clinton leads almost 2-to-1.
The presidential candidate said Friday — just four days before Florida's primary — that she wants the convention delegates from Florida and Michigan reinstated. The national party eliminated all the delegates from those states — more than 350 in all — because they broke party rules against holding their primaries before Feb. 5. All the major Democratic candidates also made pledges not to campaign in those states before their primaries.
Clinton could claim most of the Michigan delegates because she won that state's primary after the other major candidates pulled their names from the ballot.
Isn't that special? Hillary and the rest of the candidates have been barred from campaigning in Florida as a result of the sanction imposed by the DNC. This, however, allows Hillary to campaign for Florida's support without breaking the ban on campaigning. She's signaling to Floridians that she's their candidate.
Observers could see this coming when Hillary won Michigan. Barack Obama and John Edwards didn't have a problem in removing their names from the ballot before the primary, and yet Hillary somehow couldn't quite manage to succeed in negotiating a bureaucracy that gave no trouble to her two competitors. The result? Hillary beat None of the Above by a mere 15 points, but enough to gain over half of Michigan's delegates if they get them restored. Now she leads in Florida polling by a 2-1 margin, and all of a sudden she's worried about disenfranchising Florida -- a concern that didn't get much air time when the DNC made its decision.
Would Hillary defy the DNC if she hadn't won Michigan's primary after somehow neglecting to have her name removed from the ballot? Would she champion Floridians if Barack Obama was beating her in the polls? Of course not. She'll wrap all sorts of high-flying rhetoric about fairness and empowerment of the voter around it, but Hillary would have become the Defender of the DNC Faith had anyone else won Michigan.
None of this should surprise anyone, although Memeorandum highlights some of the outrage on the Left over this cynical Clintonian calculation. Republicans have known all along how the Clintons play their game. We're encouraged that progressives have finally started to notice it after 16 years.
Justin commented, on January 27, 2008 at 10:31 a.m.:
Subject: People do not want another two for one!
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:32:05 -0400
They finally see what many people have known for years.
That Bill & Hillary will say or do anything to get elected.
Black,white,young and old Democrats have spoken out against the dirty tactics of the Clinton Machine.
We do not like them.
Carville & Begala are on board ,so it will get nastier.
Hillary & Bills latest lie.
Hillary says Bill told her THE DAY BEFORE THE SC PRIMARY that he feels he MAY have went too far.
Hillary's suggestion...Let both camps be civil,stop the insults & accusations and concentrate on issues...lol
Well yes,I guess so...they got in all their best shots in SC,where they knew they would lose.
Now going into super tuesday,where she leads in many states with large delegate counts by a two to one margin...she wants issues only.
DO THESE TWO THINK WE ARE STUPID!
Check out the comments at CNN.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/200...
Justin commented, on January 28, 2008 at 8:36 a.m.:
VOTE
Deliver a message to the Clintons.
WE DO NOT NEED OR WANT A CO-PRESIDENCY
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/us/pol...
snip:
After a week of all-out campaigning by Mr. Clinton in South Carolina, where Mrs. Clinton came in a distant second to Mr. Obama, there is also fresh concern among some advisers that Mr. Clinton’s visibility has dented her argument that she has the best experience for the job.
These advisers expressed concern that the specter of a co-candidacy and co-presidency could bring back elements of the Clinton history that many Democrats would just as soon leave behind.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080128...
snip:
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) - Stung by her lopsided loss to Barack Obama in South Carolina, Hillary Rodham Clinton is trying to shift her momentum in Florida - even though its Democratic primary won't count for much.
Like her rivals, Clinton has agreed to a pledge imposed by national party leaders not to publicly campaign in the state. But after South Carolina, Clinton was skating up against the edge of that agreement and trying to lend some credibility to the outcome Tuesday.
She arrived in Florida on Sunday for two events - both closed fundraisers, in keeping with the pledge not to campaign. She clearly winked at that pledge with her arrival, joking about the warm weather and positioning herself so photographers had a palm tree for a backdrop.