The
South Carolina Primary for the Democratic Party is scheduled to be held on Saturday, 26th January. After the controversies surrounding the highly eventful Nevada Caucus, tensions between the rival camps have escalated prior to this primary. Hillary Clinton won the Nevada Caucus by defeating Sen.
Barack Obama with a margin of over 5% popular votes.
South Carolina is the first state with a substantial African-American population that is going to hold the primaries for the US Presidential elections of 2008. It is also the state that has some of the poorest and least developed areas in the US. Therefore, it remains quite expected that change and economic progress, along with health and education, will be some of the key issues that the voters will keep in consideration before casting their votes. The candidates will also stress these very issues in the course of their campaigns.
The South Carolina primary promises to be a tight and a fiercely fought one. It is one of the last rounds of early primaries to be held before the
Super Tuesday on Feb. 5. Therefore, it is generally believed that the result of the South Carolina will exert direct influence on the voting pattern of the 5th February. As a consequence, all the contending parties are keen to win this primary. Moreover, under the given situation, it is difficult to discount the chances of any of the three contending candidates: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and
John Edwards.
Demographic and ethnic issues have always played a major role in determining South Carolina’s voting pattern. Sen. Barack Obama starts off as a favorite just prior to the primary, slightly ahead of his competitors. The African-American section, which constitutes almost half of the total voters in South Carolina, is expected to vote for him. Sen.
Hillary Clinton, with assistance from her Latino coordinator Diana Salazar, has started to woo the Hispanic voters as a counter-balance to Obama’s strong appeal among African-American voters. Moreover, with two consecutive wins behind her at New Hampshire and Nevada, it is difficult to dismiss her chances too.
It is difficult to discount the chances of Sen. John Edwards either. He is expected to give a strong competition to both his rivals. It is his home-state, and he has the unique distinction of winning both the South Carolina and the North Carolina primaries four years back. Sen. Edwards has also secured over 80 endorsements state-wise. It now remains to be seen how he fares in this version of the SC primary.
With voters in South Carolina making a move from transactional to transformational politics, the results are difficult to predict. However, there is no doubt that it will be one of the most closely fought primaries in the early phase of the electoral process.
