South Carolina’s African-American Voters Power Obama’s Purple Revolution To Victory

U.S. Iran-Peace Project
2008 Presidential Campaign Analysis
www.usiranpeace.com
January 28, 2008

By Webster Brooks, Former Independent Vice-Presidential Candidate

Hartford, Connecticut — As we predicted last week, Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama not only needed to win the South Carolina primary, but win it big with 80% of the Black vote. Obama did just that; stunning the nation by winning 55% of the total vote compared to Hillary Clinton’s anemic 27%. Obama’s victory has sent shock waves through the Democratic Party establishment controlled by the Clintons, as evidenced by Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Obama on Sunday; a defection that may open the floodgates in the weeks to come of establishment Democrats jettisoning the Clinton’s divisive and retrograde “Co-Presidency” campaign.

In carrying 80% of the Black vote Obama accomplished a key strategic goal; solidifying Blacks as a reliable voting constituency in his growing Purple Revolution comprised of moderate Democrats, Independents and disaffected Republicans. Obama goes into the February 5 Super Tuesday primaries in 20 states with the winds of momentum in his sails.

The South Carolina primary demonstrated in brilliant fashion that Barak Obama is the only Democratic candidate capable of building a coalition of voters across demographic lines to defeat the Republicans in the November general election. South Carolina was the first contest in which African-American voters played a major role and despite the Clinton’s success in racially polarizing the contest, Obama’s victory far exceeded the boundaries of racial and gender politics. South Carolina’s white voters are the most ideologically and politically conservative voters in America, and made up half of the state’s electorate. Nevertheless, Obama won 25% of the white vote, even with native South Carolinian John Edwards in the contest. Moreover, 61% of South Carolina’s voters were women. Obama won 54% of the women’s vote. The fact that Southern white men did not and will not vote for Hillary does not augur well for the Clinton’s on Super Tuesday. .

The slash and burn campaign against Obama, so typical of the Clinton’s has ignited a fire storm that Democratic Party leaders find deeply troublesome. If Hillary Clinton manages to win the Democratic Party nomination, Black voters will not enthusiastically embrace her campaign. Even the chief firefighters Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will have a difficult time hawking Clinton’s wares. In an election year that Republicans are in serious disfavor with the American public, Democrats feel the White House belongs to them; they do not want another presidential candidate meltdown.

Increasingly, Hillary and Bill Clinton are being exposed for the politically toxic mix that they truly are. Should John McCain win the January 29 Florida Republican primary and emerge as the clear GOP front runner, the Democratic Party establishment will be forced to confront the reality that it must have a candidate with broad appeal to combat McCain’s popularity among Independents, moderates and centrist voters. That candidate is Barak Obama, and the politics of addition and victory in November is Obama’s Purple Revolution!