Barack Obama adminstered an electoral beatdown in yesterday's South Carolina primary.
In a South Carolina primary in which an astounding 530,000 voters participated, Sen. Obama earned more than twice the vote that rival Sen. Hillary Clinton did, 55 percent to 27 percent. Obama got 295,091 votes (55%), Hillary Clinton 141,128 votes (27%) and John Edwards finished third with 93,552 (18%).
As expected, he garnered the lion's share of African-American primary voters, but Obama also did well in other demographic groups as well, a fact he noted in his victory speech.
"We have the most votes, the most delegates and the most diverse coalition of Americans we've seen in a long, long time."
Obama beat Clinton in every bracket except voters 65 and older, and overall garnered 58 percent of the vote among 18 to 64-year-olds while 23 percent of those voters picked Clinton.
Obama also said the election "is not about black versus white." Emphasizing his platform for bringing change to Washington, he said "this election is about the past versus the future."
I've been fortunate to not only see some great political orators in my life such as the late Ann Richards and the late Barbara Jordan but have them as my congressmember and my governor. Barack is quickly moving up into those lofty ranks in my eyes as a speaker.
Some CNN analysis of what happened in South Carolina by another of my favorite Houstonians, Roland Martin.
He has momentum going into Mega Tuesday, but is trailing in delegate-rich California as of right now. If he does well on Mega Tuesday, a conversation I had with my sis back in December may actually come to pass with the March 4 Texas primary deciding it.
7 comments:
30 years ago a young charismatic speaker was able to diversify the election possess and infuse energy and get young voters to come out and vote. He reminds me so much of Bobby Kennedy. Great speaker energetic captivating and doesn’t loose people with his command of the English language by overdoing the vernacular. He is able to transcend his message across many boundaries.
40 opps
Well, damn, I'm surprised: the race card is now pulled.
It might need some explanation - particularly since, well, I'm a first time commenter to your blog and all that - I meant that some of the media is now treating as a strictly black victory - sometimes even going so far as saying that he only got "some" support from other racial/ethnic/x groups in this primary.
danaelm
There is no Race card. It's a media shock tool. When Huckabee goes after the evangelicals its going after your base. Hilary is going after her base the woman vote. If modern politics has taught us anything you need to pull your base then split the rest of the vote. Edwards did poorly in his base southern liberals so he is done. Once you loose your base you have no chance. Reagan pulled his base then pulled the Reagan democrats he wins by a landside. Clinton pulled his base then pulled back the swing vote. Obama has maintained his base and has been successful in garnering enough support from across demographic lines. He is a real threat to Hilary and Republicans. Obama has done very well with the white liberal vote so far with three people in the race. Once Edwards drops out he will only increase his numbers.
Oh, that I understood - and Obama has already garnered support from many very liberal democratic early dropout candidates.
It was rather an early morning annoyed reaction (and not so thought-out) given that the first thing I heard this morning was pretty much how Obama "wouldn't have made it" in a state that wasn't majority afroamerican.
South Carolina isn't majority African-American. It's only 30% African-American. It's 69% white.
That 30% African-American population however, makes up in some cases up to 50% of Democratic primary voters.
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