Posted on 01/26/2008 8:36:46 PM PST by jdm
Barack Obama’s crushing victory over Hillary Clinton in South Carolina, where he received more votes than Mrs Clinton and John Edwards combined, will restore much of the momentum that he briefly enjoyed following his emphatic victory in Iowa.
But Mr Obama’s stunning win is also likely to polarise further an already bitterly divided Democratic Party as the Clintons pull out all stops to maximise their chances on the “Super Tuesday” February 5 primary of 22 states.
Even before the polls had closed on Saturday, Bill Clinton, who has been widely attacked for allegedly “playing the race card” in the last two weeks, sought to downplay Mr Obama’s victory by comparing it to that of Jesse Jackson, who won the same state twice in 1984 and 1988. Mr Obama’s victory was built on the overwhelming support of African Americans, who make up half of South Carolina’s electorate, and whose support divided 81 per cent to 17 per cent in his favour (John Edwards barely registered).
In response to a question about whether Mr Obama had beaten “two Clintons” as opposed to just Hillary, Bill Clinton replied: “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina twice, in ’84 and ’88. And he ran a good campaign. Senator Obama’s run a good campaign here, he’s run a good campaign everywhere.” The implication was clear: Mr Obama is a black candidate whom blacks disproportionately support.
One measure of how much bitterness is now felt by Obama supporters towards the Clintons occurred at Mr Obama’s victory rally in Columbia, South Carolina when Mr Clinton’s face briefly appeared on the big television screen in the hall. The crowd erupted into boos. Mr Obama did not mention either of the Clintons in his speech. But its entire thrust was to counter the argument that he can be compared to Jesse Jackson or other traditional African-American candidates.
Mr Obama reminded the audience of his victory in the Iowa caucuses on January 3, where more than 95 per cent of the population is white. And he also threw his remarks forward to February 5, where as many Hispanics are likely to vote in states such as New York and California as African Americans. Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Mrs Clinton in the Nevada caucuses last weekend.
Both candidates now have two victories apiece in the primary process although Mr Obama is slightly ahead on the number of delegates who are bound to support him.
“Well, tonight, the cynics who believed that what began in the snows of Iowa was just an illusion were told a different story by the good people of South Carolina,” Mr Obama told a boisterous crowd who were chanting his campaign mantra, “Yes, we can!”
He added: “After four great contests in every corner of this country, we have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans we’ve seen in a long, long time. They are young and old; rich and poor. They are black and white; Latino and Asian.”
Mrs Clinton, who left South Carolina for a rally in Tennessee before the results had been formally declared, issued a statement after the result that gave a foretaste of the trench warfare for delegates that is now likely to dominate the remaining weeks – and possibly months – of this primary election.
She congratulated Mr Obama but also mentioned the state of Florida, which holds a nominal Democratic primary vote on Tuesday but where all the Democratic candidates have agreed not to campaign. The state was deprived of all its delegates by the Democratic National Committee for having moved its primary date ahead of “Super Tuesday”.
Mrs Clinton, who is ahead in the polls in Florida, has hinted that she would petition the DNC to allow Florida to regain its delegates after the vote. Any such move could reinforce Mr Obama’s allegation that the Clinton’s are practising a cynical brand of politics. “This will not be easy,” said Mr Obama. “Make no mistake about what we are up against.”
Mrs Clinton maintains poll leads in most of the 22 states set to vote on February 5.
J C Watts
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
From your mouth to God’s ears...
:)
I watched her Nashville speech
Then I ate glass
Now I feel much better thank you for asking...
was it Obama that dug the dirt on Ryan? I was not aware of that.
Electile Dysfunction
The inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party in the 2008 election year.
If you mean that it should be a direct involvement... well, then no politician ever was and never will be guilty of such thing as digging dirt.
I think the black community has turned on the Clintons.... this is HUGE.
Why they did it?
Do you think Hillary will have a good public cry for herself (not for the country) again?
She staged it once, but the second time won’t work as well as it did in NH.
If so, I’ll have to puke. LOL!
What’s your basis for that?
History.
Youd didn’t vote for me so I have no use for you! I leaving and gonna have a good cry after I curse out my staff!
It's not unusual for a candidate to leave the scene of the crime early after a humiliating defeat. In 2006, when it became obvious what a blood bath the elections were going to be, Denny Hastert split for his home state while Nancy Pelosi stayed in Washington. Anybody who was on FR that night remembers that we were holding out hope for some kind of miracle, but when Hastert took off before the polls closed anywhere, I knew the internal polling was disastrous.
A lot of people think the Clintons are playing this to make it a racial issue, as 90 percent of the black vote will go to Obama no matter what, and polarization will only push the white vote to Hillary. That would be the only reason campaigning in SC would make any sense. Hillary got a 55-27 whipping. I don't think Walter Mondale ever got that kind of @ss kicking, and he's gotten his @ss kicked more than a fat kid at a soccer game.
this is what most people overlook. One Feb 6th Hillary will be in the lead and wont look back
wow! i was 7 years old at the time of jimmuhs ascendency to peanut farmer in chief and thought that he was a bumbling, pandering buffoon.
. perhaps you are right this time...
then again...?
The best case scenario would be for Obama to win more contested delegates, for The Evil One to petition for and get Florida delegates, and then for The Evil One to be pushed over the top by non-contested super delegates. Millions of Obama RATS and indies would be enraged by this and sit out the election.
In a word, Arkancide......
That could well happen. We’ll see.
If blacks sit it out, that could have impact on state races and congressional races in swing districts.
Obama is a dreamer. And he will be unstoppable once his momentum & the MSM get in sync. He is John Lennon and the hoola hoop all rolled into one.
My only concern is who are his sponsors, you know, the machine that pulls the strings on the dreamer?
I have a REALLY dumb question: does the GOP also have superdelegates, or is this just a Dem scheme? Follow-up question: what is the purpose of superdelegates, anyway?
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