Billary Got Its Ass Kicked
YO-BAMA CRUISES TO BLOWOUT SOUTH CAROLINA WIN
FITSNews - January 26, 2008 - Riding an unprecedented wave of African-American turnout, Illinois Senator Barack Obama decimated the Clinton machine in today’s South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, dealing a huge blow to the presidential aspirations of Hillary Clinton and the myth of Bill Clinton as America’s “first black president.” With nearly all precincts in, Obama received 55% of the vote compared to 27% for Clinton and 18% for native South Carolinian John Edwards, who won here in 2004.
But perhaps the biggest myth that was shattered tonight wasn’t the Clintonian hold over Southern black voters, it was the myth concerning the GOP’s iron grip over the Palmetto State. Democrats turned out approximately 525,000 voters for today’s primary, a race that wasn’t anywhere near as competitive as John McCain’s win in the GOP presidential contest held here a week ago, which drew roughly 446,000 voters.
It goes without saying that the Dems have been much more pleased with their White House choices this primary season than Republicans, but today’s record turnout (nearly twice the 280,000 Dems who voted in the 2004 primary) will no doubt send shock waves across the political landscape of the so-called “reddest state in the nation.”
Which it should …
Comments
By Mr. Business on January 26th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
i think the greatest politician of this generation did what he wanted in SC. Took an assured loss and created Obama as the “black candidate” for the other states. Will it work? Remains to be seen.
By Mattheus Mei on January 27th, 2008 at 12:25 am
I agree completely, you may see this state flip in November… Even more interesting is the possibility that these voters, many of whom are first time voters, might actually exercise that right more often than not even in State Politics. So the Republican’ts should be worried. The divide within the GOP that is developing because of those with loyalties to Gov Sanford versus those loyal to the Old Guard have a new contingent of the population to consider.
Another interesting thing to point out… Mr. Obama was not only amazingly successful with the African - American vote. He’s shocked many with his winning a larger portion of the White vote than earlier polls showed.
By Harden Gervais on January 27th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I really doubt SC will end up in the Democratic column, even if Obama is the nominee. It may be closer, but the GOP nominee should have no problem here.
By ABC in 08 on January 27th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Or it could simply be a case of the “Anybody But Clinton” crowd throwing behind Obama early because the Republican slate was so dismally disappointing.
By zingbob on January 27th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Will, I think ice and snow in the Upstate might have lessened voter turnout for the Repubs. The “Democrat Surge” in SC is overblown.
By Palmetto Mouse Jockey on January 27th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Reddest state in the nation? That would be Utah. By far.
Barry (that’s what is mother always called him, may she RIP) Obama pumps the same putrid bilgewater as every other lefty but when he does it people swear it smells like perfume.
I remember living in CA when we were trying to recall Gray Davis. It was a close run thing until Clinton came to the state to campaign for Gray. From that point on Davis never had a chance. His poll numbers crashed and it was Ahnuld. The funny thing about that “greatest pol of his generation”… he never seems to win anything but his own elections. Curious.
By Palmetto Mouse Jockey on January 27th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
As for the idea that Hillary could win SC in the general election… not gonna happen. Not even close. Obama against McCain could carry 35-40 states though. R’s sign up with McCain and it’s the second coming of Bob Dole 1996.
By Back Row Bum on January 27th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Look at the data from the State Election Commission. Counties with at least 50% of their registered voters comprised of minority votes turned out to vote in the Democratic Primary (Orangeburg, Williamsburg, Marion, Marlboro, Clarendon, etc) rather than the Republican Primary. Than look at Richland County, which is 46% minority registered voters, and 2.2 times as many voters participated in the Democratic Primary versus Republican Primary. It explains the difference.
To the average person that doesn’t dive into voter data the Dems beat the Repubs in turnout. But should anyone be surprised or shocked the minority voters, especially African-American voters, decided to vote yesterday instead of last Saturday? I don’t think so. So the Democrats can celebrate a victory, but it certainly isn’t that surprising after you look at the data.
But if you look at the some of the fastest growing counties (Beaufort, York, Lexington, Horry, Dorchester, Aiken) the Republicans had more voters participate in those counties than the Democrats. So one could make the case that Democrats didn’t succeed in winning over the newest voters and those likely to be from out-of-state. But a win’s a win, the Democrats can celebrate. But there is something for both parties to learn from the two primaries.
By Upstater on January 27th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
The interesting possibility in a state like South Carolina is that Barack Obama could bring out such a high turnout among black voters that things actually get tight. He may not be likely to win SC (or NC, or Georgia or whatever), but if those states are ‘in play’, then it’s a different deal than what the GOP has had in recent elections, in which they hardly had to lift a finger.
So the Clintons or whoever else can spin Obama’s victory as a “black vote,” but maybe such an analysis actually favors Obama. Bottom line: I would not think he would lose any of the major states that Hillary Clinton would be favored in during the general election — California, New York, Illinois. My guess is that he’d win those just like Hillary would.
But if Southern blacks are excited enough about Barack to vote in much-higher-than-normal numbers, he might actually pull a surprise in a Southern state…..or at least make the GOP work harder…..particularly if the GOP nominates a candidate that Southern conservatives aren’t roundly wild about.
Overall, it was an interesting primary, and I would think a logical analysis of it suggests that Obama is a stronger candidate for the Dems in November.
By Brandon on January 28th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Or, maybe there were alot of Republicans like me…
I went to the Winyah Bay Heritage Festival not to the polls, which reminds me why does our party have an important primary on the Saturday of a three day weekend?
Anyway, wanting to exercise my right to vote, I cast it Saturday for Obama. I thought it would be great to vote against Hillary twice in one year.
I live in a heavly populated Republican area, I saw lots of neighbors that I believe were doing the same.
I truly belive with no real conservative in the hunt on the Republican side, there are loads of people crossing over to vote against Hillary.
By Tim on January 28th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
“Mr. Business” at #1 is right. Hitlery’s looking pretty strong for Feb. 5.
By Gina on August 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Before Obama became a candidate, the black voting block loved the Clintons. If Obama wasn’t on the ticket, the 90% of blacks voting for him would all be voting for Hillary. But, as soon as a black candidate was actually in sight of the nomination, it was time for blacks to throw the Clintons under the bus, and play the race card. These latter comments by black leaders putting the blame on Bill Clinton, are extremely disengenuous, and are merely attempts at damage control, as well as attempts at solidarity for the black candidate, at the expense of the Clintons.