The Politics of 'Manifested Destiny'
"Barack Obama was destined to win in South Carolina." That's the line that his nearest rival Bill and Hillary Clinton will be repeating, or at the very least implying, all of the
way up to Super-Ultra-Mega Tuesday on February 5th.
The claim isn't really that off base. The idea that no one but Obama was going to win in South Carolina may hold credence. This is a state, as former President Clinton has made a point of, which Jesse Jackson won in both the 1984 and 1988 Democratic caucuses. If Obama didn't win, then all signs point to the conclusion that it would've been the end of his presidential hopes and dreams.
In South Carolina, 50% of Democratic voters are black. It was known that the vast majority of African Americans were going to vote for Obama. With a percentage of white votes thrown into the mix, it seemed that Obama really couldn't lose.
It turns out that nearly 80% of blacks did vote for Barack Obama. Combined with the 24% of whites who voted for him, he garnered 55% of the vote in South Carolina, beating his nearest rival, Hillary Clinton, nearly two to one.
But wasn't the outcome pretty much to be expected? Any professional politician or pundit who says that the South Carolina results are "shocking," "surprising," or use some other buzz word to describe the outcome, are either dumb or dishonest. Let's look at the South Carolina 1988 caucus results: Jackson 54%, Gore 18%, Dukakis 7%.
Politics of Race
Here's something that should be very troubling for Obama, but no one is talking about it. In South Carolina he only won 24% of white votes. That's down tremendously from Iowa, (33%) and New Hampshire (36%). In fact, the winner among white voters was John Edwards with a total of 40%.
The problem for Obama is that blacks make up 20% of the population and whites 65%. So, he's apparently in danger of losing ground with white voters, though his support among African American voters is surging. He's also losing ground in the next largest demographic, Hispanics, which account for 16% of the population.
"Barack Obama was destined to win in South Carolina." That's the line that his nearest rival Bill and Hillary Clinton will be repeating, or at the very least implying, all of the
The claim isn't really that off base. The idea that no one but Obama was going to win in South Carolina may hold credence. This is a state, as former President Clinton has made a point of, which Jesse Jackson won in both the 1984 and 1988 Democratic caucuses. If Obama didn't win, then all signs point to the conclusion that it would've been the end of his presidential hopes and dreams.
In South Carolina, 50% of Democratic voters are black. It was known that the vast majority of African Americans were going to vote for Obama. With a percentage of white votes thrown into the mix, it seemed that Obama really couldn't lose.
It turns out that nearly 80% of blacks did vote for Barack Obama. Combined with the 24% of whites who voted for him, he garnered 55% of the vote in South Carolina, beating his nearest rival, Hillary Clinton, nearly two to one.
But wasn't the outcome pretty much to be expected? Any professional politician or pundit who says that the South Carolina results are "shocking," "surprising," or use some other buzz word to describe the outcome, are either dumb or dishonest. Let's look at the South Carolina 1988 caucus results: Jackson 54%, Gore 18%, Dukakis 7%.
Politics of Race
Here's something that should be very troubling for Obama, but no one is talking about it. In South Carolina he only won 24% of white votes. That's down tremendously from Iowa, (33%) and New Hampshire (36%). In fact, the winner among white voters was John Edwards with a total of 40%.
The problem for Obama is that blacks make up 20% of the population and whites 65%. So, he's apparently in danger of losing ground with white voters, though his support among African American voters is surging. He's also losing ground in the next largest demographic, Hispanics, which account for 16% of the population.
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- Barack Obama Wins South Carolina
- John Edwards Wins White Vote in South Carolina
- Hillary Clinton Finishes Second in South Carolina
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