Crucial victory for Obama in South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina. Barack Obama (Photo Daniella Zalcman) trounced Hillary Clinton and won a crucial victory on Saturday Jan 26 in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary. The Illinois Senator won 55 percent of the vote. The former first lady finished second with 27 percent and South Carolina native John Edwards trailed in third place with 18 percent. Barack Obama carried South Carolina thanks to the overwhelming support from African-Americans such as Orlando Howard, a 19-year old first-time voter from Columbia. “Obama tries to get us more tuition so that we can go to school, said the tall, young man holding a “Obama 08” sign. I can relate to his life’s story because he was in my situation too when he was little. He was a little poor and he went to college. He can make a change in this world today”. African-Americans cast 55% of the votes in South Carolina. Of those, 78% voted for the Illinois Senator. On the other hand, Obama failed to win many white votes. In the Palmetto state, he took 24% of the white vote, while Hillary Clinton took 38%. After a bitter week of campaigning, where the Obama and Clinton campaigns clashed repeatedly, the Illinois regained in South Carolina the momentum he had lost after two successive defeats at the hands of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire and Nevada. So far the two rivals have both won states and with Super Tuesday looming on Tuesday on Feb 5, the race for the Democratic nomination does not have a clear front-runner. Standing on the stage in the packed convention center in downtown Columbia on Saturday, Obama thanked a boisterous crowd. “The choice in this election is not about regions or religions or genders,” Obama said in his victory speech as he tried to raise avove the fray. “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.” In his remarks, the Illinois Senator made a thinly veiled reference about the controversies with the Clinton camp. “We are up against the thinking that it is acceptable to say anything to win an election”, he said. “That is not the America we believe in”. Hillary Clinton made her concession speech from Nashville, Tennessee. “I want to tell you how excited I am that now the eyes of the country turn to Tennessee and the other states that will be voting on February 5th and, of course, to the state of Florida that will be voting on Tuesday,” Hillary Clinton told her supporters on Saturday night. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had also left the Palmetto State for Missouri, one of the 22 States holding a primary or caucuses on Feb. 5. Inside the convention center, Alice Brathwaite was ecstatic. The 25-year old African-American woman came from Georgia to canvass for the Obama campaign on Saturday. “I want to help improve our image across the world”, she said. “Right now, we just look like we are an arrogant nation because of our current president”. Holly Harlow, a 26-year old woman from Tennessee agreed. “I have a two-year old son”, she said. “What kind of world will he inherit? I am concerned about our foreign relations and I am sick of the cowboy and stubborn attitude of the Bush administration”. Columbia / Jean-Cosme Delaloye On the same topic: One struggle, one vote in black South Carolina. CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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