Young Voters Help Obama Turn Palmetto Purple
Barack Obama swept to victory here in South Carolina, giving this once-red state a purple hue. Over 520,000 people voted tonight in the Democratic primary - walloping the turnout of 440,000 voters in last week's Republican primary. Barack Obama earned more votes tonight than were cast for all candidates combined in the 2004 Democratic primary.
By winning a Southern state by an overwhelming margin, in the face of opposition from the venerable establishment, a populist native son (John Edwards), the longtime favorite (Senator Clinton), and the former President of the United States (Bill Clinton), Barack Obama earned a historic victory.
While much was made of the race and gender politics this week, it was Obama's investment in young people that helped win the day. With the establishment supporting Clinton, Obama had to build his own grassroots army. He found willing recruits among young people.
We discussed this yesterday at an inspiring campaign boot camp for about 50 aspiring leaders at South Carolina Democratic Party HQ. When Palmetto State native son Donnie Fowler and I talked about how Democrats utilized house meetings to win Congress in 2006, we were told that the Obama campaign had introduced a house meeting strategy to South Carolina in 2007. They worked across the state, encouraging people to bring friends together, watch a DVD, and discuss the candidate's position on the issues. They used new technology to text their friends and mobilize online social networks. Recruiting volunteers through volunteers was bottom-up management that worked, propelling Obama to victory and driving the largest Democratic primary turnout in South Carolina history. For the next 8 months, state chair Carol Fowler and her team will be harnessing this positive new energy for change into support for the Democratic ticket up and down the ballot, driving the national vote for change.
Going forward to Super Tuesday, let's hope all campaigns will ride the energy of turning palmetto purple. Take a lesson from House Democratic Whip James Clyburn and "chill." Tell those surrogates to halt; to put aside the politics of personal destruction and lift up the aspirations of the American people. Inspire young and young-at-heart people to leadership roles in your campaigns. Don't drive us to cynicism - invest in our power to shape the future. Our cell phones are on - we're waiting for your text.
Follow Christine Pelosi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sfpelosi
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It looks like Sen. Obama might win the Democratic nomination, although the campaigning is not over yet. If he does win the primaries, let's hope he wins the next big show. We don't know as much about Obama as we should, but we know enough about all of the Republican front runners to know we don't want any of them in a position to fail our country and the world for another four years.
This Pelosi sounds like a reasonable and intelligent woman. I wonder, is she related to the Speaker of the House? Maybe she can get her to help out and work for the Democratic Party and the good of the American people instead of caving in to the false god of Unity with the Republicans!
i would hate for anyone to judge me on how my parents voted. they voted repub in their lives and i was a repub as a teen until i saw they were selfish elitist war mongers and loved to put it to the middle class.
very proud to say never voted for a repub in my life. you cannot be a repub and understand anything jesus or the buddha taught.
the evangels dont have a clue what jesus taught. the worst of the worst war mongers. the very type of people that upset jesus the most.
what is difficult to understand is how the middle class lines up to vote for people that want to destroy them. some people liked to be screwed i guess. year after year.
at least george jr knew how to screw them year after year. nice job george jr now pick up your checks from corp america in 2009.
Hope, change, inspire, move forward, whip it, into shape, shape it up, go forward, move ahead, try to detach it, it's not too late to whip it. Whip it good! Bla bla bla. I'm really frustrated!! I'm not inspired by Obama! Is there something wrong with me??? So far he's a mush mouth, who started out with empty slogans and now has moved into misrepresenting his record. Liberman was his mentor for gods sake! HE'S NOT REVOLUTIONARY! He won the state because somewhere around 80% of the black vote went to him. There's nothing wrong with saying that. White people have been doing it here for hundreds of years! But let's at least say it! It must be his stance on National Healthcare or his huge corporate support that brought the people out to the polls today!
The young are more involved and less racist than the MSM portrays them.
Welcome to democracy kids...Well Done.
Thanks Christine for your post. I love your mom, Nancy and your sister Alexandra, too. (Her "Journeys with George" HBO movie was the start of the undoing of Bush, and I don't think she has gotten enough credit for its effect.)
Anyway, I'm here in California, and we're fired up, and ready for the primary, on Feb. 5th. I just wanted to sing a little song for everybody out there who believes in "the audacity of hope." (warning, if you're as old as I am, it might make you a little weepy, but in a good kind of way) Okay... here we go.
http://solosong.net/wish.html
When you wish upon a star, Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires, Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream, No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star as dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue, Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star...
Your dreams come true.
Obama in '08
The great thing about Obama's decisive victory is the momentum it generates for "outsiders" to challenge the pathetic "status quo" of experienced and jaded Washington politicos, even on the Repuglican side of the aisle.
If Hillary wins, with her carefully scripted, cautious and now malicious campaign (which has steadily become about electing Bill to a third term) the entrenched shadow government ruled by greed, corruption and powerful special interests need not feel threatened.
It may all boil down to the generational gap. Obama will draw the under-30s while Clinton will do better with the over-45s. Of course the good news is that McCain might do well with the 'bucket' generation.
Very encouraging. No more Clintons please. Let's not go the way of Rome.
They expected something like 350,000 to vote in the demo primary in S.C., over 500,000 turned out!
Go Obama!
Caroline Kennedy is endorsing Obama.
Bill said:
"The former president, however, dryly noted that Jesse Jackson won the South Carolina primary in 1984 and 1988."
Clearly a race card, but hey, Clinton wants back in, and scruples were never a strong point.
Well said Christine. As a twenty-something, I'm glad that you're drawing attention to the important task of creating progressive leaders for the future. Sen. Obama's incredible broad-based appeal -- winning over half of all young whites in SC -- gives me hope that we can overcome the wacky politics of the past.
Over 50 percent of the total vote for Obama; entire vote breakdowns per CNN:
white men 44 Edwards 28 Clinton 27 Obama
white women 42 Clinton 35 Edwards 23 Obama
black man 80 Obama 17 Clinton 3 Edwards
black women 82 Obama 17 Clinton 1 Edwards
Here are some voter numbers:
Obama
295,091
55%
25 delegates
Clinton
141,128
27%
12 delegates
Edwards
93,552
18%
8
Kucinich
551
0%
0 delegates
*********************
Nice post, Christine.
You're right. South Carolina is now purple, but I think an Obama nomination could turn it blue. Compare Obama's vote total with the top two Republican's vote totals:
McCain 147,283
Huckabee 132,440
Obama over 291,000
That's right, Obama beat the top two Republicans COMBINED in a red state .
As the nominee, he could put a lot of southern states in play.
I'm wondering what the defection or disillusionment rate would be for these SC primary voters should their primary choice not be the eventual party nominee.
Of course there is a worry about race, but there is also some Clinton fatigue/alienation and Obama enthusiasm to weigh in.
I don't pretend to know anything about the respective strengths of such influences.
It's fun to speculate though.
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