Posted on 01/26/2008 6:57:27 PM PST by jdm
If Hillary had hoped to put a South Carolina loss in a racial-politics box, she may have failed. If she set out to lose South Carolina as badly as possible, she certainly succeeded. Barack Obama garnered well over twice as many votes than Hillary and three times as many as John Edwards in easily beating both. He also derided the attacks coming his way from the Clinton campaign in his victory speech:
Barack Obama routed Hillary Rodham Clinton in the racially charged South Carolina primary Saturday night, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates."The choice in this election is not about regions or religions or genders," Obama said at a boisterous victory rally. "It's not about rich versus poor, young versus old and it's not about black versus white. It's about the past versus the future." ....
The exit polls showed the economy was the most important issue in the race. About one quarter picked health care. And only one in five said it was the war in Iraq, underscoring the extent to which the once-dominant issue has faded in the face of financial concerns.
The strategy coming out of the Clinton campaign attempted to pre-spin the apparent loss as an election that broke along racial lines. With this broad gap, that will be a lot harder to do. The black vote accounts for half of all South Carolina Democrats, but the span of his victory shows that he reached across ethnic lines. According to CNN's exit poll, he won a majority of non-black votes in the 18-29-year-old demographic, and a quarter of non-black votes in two other demographic age groups. Hillary didn't win pluralities among non-black age demographics; Edwards actually did better than Hillary did in these categories.
Obama, in his victory speech, took special aim at the Clintons. While saying that they needed to respect their competitors, he clearly relished prevailing over all of the attacks in the past week. He claimed the triumph as a vindication of a new approach to politics, one that didn't include ridiculing someone for noting that Republicans had ideas of their own even while not endorsing them. Anyone watching the speech understood exactly what he meant, and the message was clear -- the Clintons came up empty.
How badly does this damage Hillary? She still has a lead in most Super-Dee-Duper Tuesday states, including the important coastal states. She has more superdelegates as well, so a thin and temporary lead in delegates won't make a big deal of difference. However, the more times he beats her, the thinner that veneer of inevitability becomes. If John Edwards gets a clue and drops out of the race, Hillary could be in serious trouble, especially if he does so before February 5th. She may not be able to beat Obama head to head, if the Clintons continue to alienate potential supporters.
Given that I know that Hillary is evil, I am willing to risk a Senator Obama. Anybody who suggests we want Hillary to win this thing will get nothing but scorn and derision from me.
Ouch! - Now that is going to piss someone off to no end!
It doesn't. Anyone who would support a sleazy clinton cares not about ethics in a campaign.
Trounced by a two to one margin - that’s almost as good as Romney’s win in Nevada.
At this point, Edwards dropping out helps her. E split the white vote with her in South Carolina.
Osama Obama Hussein WINS!
53% to 24%. Just barely squeaked right by her, huh?
They must be used to some really raggedy edges in the AP newsroom.
Yeah, Hillary IS a rich, old, white woman living in the past. She’s also a lot of other things.
People that want Hillary to win believe she would be easier to beat in the general.
Dr. Jack Wheeler has stated Obama needs to watch his back...bigtime. The clintoons’ are so power hungry, they’ll do whatever it takes to make her the nominee.
Ah, did Edwards drop out? If he did, I missed it.
No, he didn’t drop out.
He is working to be Obama’s AG...
No, he didn’t drop out.
He is working to be Obama’s AG...
Just watch ... Bill framed it as a vote for race.
That’s what Obama got. Ole Bill was also using this as an excuse on why Hillary didn’t win - RACE.
He’d have a much better chance if Hillary dropped out.
I will be doing my part. In the California primary, as a Decline to State, I am not permitted to vote in the R primary, but I can in the D.
I will take a deep breath, and whatever medication I can to keep me from puking, and vote in the D...for Obama.
Re: His Victory Speech tonight. He was very impressive and carved up the Clintoons in an expert fashion. He also took a few articulate swipes at the entrenched in Washington. All in all a good speech by an impressive campaigner.
let’s see, apparently Chelsea Clinton is seen wearing an upside down cross out in public, and Hillary is flying an Occult Goat Head US Flag during a campaign rally. Is it getting scary or what
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.