Forostar
Ancient Mariner
Re: USA Elections: Candidates Comparison
I must say I'm surprised because I heard that a lot of blacks do not want Obama as a president because they say that he does not know what it is to be an Afro-American, born and raised in America, with ancestors in the slave period in America, etc. etc. etc. I thought Hillary would come closer.
From the New York times:
Democrats Vote in South Carolina; Big Turnout Seen
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic voters were taking their turn Saturday in the first Southern primary of the presidential campaign, the final contest before the race expands into a state-by-state battle for the party’s nomination.
Senator Barack Obama made a stop at Harper's restaurant in Columbia, S.C., on primary day.
As Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Senator John Edwards made last-minute appeals for support, thousands of their volunteers waved signs on street corners, manned telephone banks and drove voters to polling stations that opened across the state at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
Party officials were predicting a record-setting turnout. Throughout the state, party officials said they had early reports of high turnout, in predominantly white and black precincts. Several precincts in York County, on the state’s northern edge, had surpassed their complete voting totals from four years ago by early afternoon. Officials said similar turnout patterns were coming in from Aiken County, on the Georgia border.
Four years ago, about 290,000 people voted in the presidential primary here, but officials are predicting that as many as 350,000 voters could participate this time.
With 45 delegates to the Democratic National Convention at stake, which will be divided among the candidates, South Carolina offers the most diverse contest to date in the party’s nominating season. Black voters, party officials predict, will make up at least half of the electorate.
A combative weeklong campaign, particularly between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, as well as former President Bill Clinton, closed largely with positive messages. Yet during a rally here that concluded just before midnight on Friday, Mr. Obama make an oblique reference to his rivals as he implored voters to believe in his call for change.
“After we won Iowa, everyone was so excited. Everybody said, ‘Oh, look at this, an African-American is winning in a state with almost no African-Americans and everybody is excited, young people came out,’” Mr. Obama said. “Well, you know what? The status quo does not give up that easily.”
Mrs. Clinton dashed to several sites across the state to greet voters. She was scheduled to fly to Tennessee for a Saturday evening rally, one of several signs that the campaign was seeking to lower expectations in the state.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama took a break from doing satellite television interviews and making calls to key political leaders to drop by Harper’s Restaurant near downtown Columbia. He greeted nearly every customer in the restaurant, including Scott Boyd, 42, who said he is a lifelong Republican but voted for Mr. Obama on Saturday.
“He’s an aggregator,” said Mr. Boyd, a neurosurgeon in Columbia. “I think he can bring people together. For me to be brought out of my Republican shell – I’m a convert now.”
With a victory in New Hampshire and Nevada on Mrs. Clinton’s side, Mr. Obama is seeking to even the odds with her in advance of 22 primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5. Mr. Edwards, who was born in South Carolina, was looking to keep his candidacy alive with a strong showing here.
The voting took place against a backdrop of intense racial discussions. One poignant reminder of South Carolina’s historic racial divide, the Confederate flag, was swaying in the cool breeze on Saturday only a few yards from where supporters waved placards for Mr. Obama, who would become the nation’s first black president.
Some of Mr. Obama’s strategists worried that the discussions on race could influence the outcome here on Saturday and drive some white voters away from Mr. Obama’s candidacy, boosting the efforts of Mr. Edwards or Mrs. Clinton.
Rick Wade, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, disagreed with the suggestion that support from white voters had decreased or that race would be a deciding factor in the primary’s outcome.
“At the end of the day, I believe that South Carolinians are going to look beyond the rhetoric and the conversations taking place and are more concerned about issues,” Mr. Wade said. “You have to build a broad coalition. It’s the only way you can win in this state.”
Mr. Edwards began his day with a morning stop at a cafe in Mount Pleasant, outside Charleston, where he shook hands with diners and posed for pictures. Speaking to reporters in front of the café, he called Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama “two candidates who are devoting all their time and energy to tearing each other down.”
And he vowed to continue in his bid for the Democratic nomination, no matter what the result of the South Carolina primary. “I’m keeping moving no matter what,” he said.
Later in the morning, Mr. Edwards stopped at a polling station in Columbia, accompanied by Leon Howard, a South Carolina state representative who has endorsed Mr. Edwards.
In an appearance on the “Today” show Saturday morning, Mr. Edwards called himself “way the underdog” and said he believed the circumstances of the race have changed this week.
“I think things have shifted some this week, because of what happened in the debate and what’s happened subsequently with a lot of the petty squabbling that’s come from the others,” Mr. Edwards said. “I think what people in South Carolina seem to be responding to is that I’m talking about them and the things that affect their lives, like jobs and health care.”
According to a recent poll, Mr. Edwards is within striking distance of a second-place finish in South Carolina, where he won the Democratic primary in 2004. On Sunday, he plans to depart on a two-day campaign swing through Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri, states that will hold primary contests on Feb. 5.
wasted155 said:
I must say I'm surprised because I heard that a lot of blacks do not want Obama as a president because they say that he does not know what it is to be an Afro-American, born and raised in America, with ancestors in the slave period in America, etc. etc. etc. I thought Hillary would come closer.From the New York times:
Democrats Vote in South Carolina; Big Turnout Seen
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Democratic voters were taking their turn Saturday in the first Southern primary of the presidential campaign, the final contest before the race expands into a state-by-state battle for the party’s nomination.
Senator Barack Obama made a stop at Harper's restaurant in Columbia, S.C., on primary day.
As Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Senator John Edwards made last-minute appeals for support, thousands of their volunteers waved signs on street corners, manned telephone banks and drove voters to polling stations that opened across the state at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
Party officials were predicting a record-setting turnout. Throughout the state, party officials said they had early reports of high turnout, in predominantly white and black precincts. Several precincts in York County, on the state’s northern edge, had surpassed their complete voting totals from four years ago by early afternoon. Officials said similar turnout patterns were coming in from Aiken County, on the Georgia border.
Four years ago, about 290,000 people voted in the presidential primary here, but officials are predicting that as many as 350,000 voters could participate this time.
With 45 delegates to the Democratic National Convention at stake, which will be divided among the candidates, South Carolina offers the most diverse contest to date in the party’s nominating season. Black voters, party officials predict, will make up at least half of the electorate.
A combative weeklong campaign, particularly between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, as well as former President Bill Clinton, closed largely with positive messages. Yet during a rally here that concluded just before midnight on Friday, Mr. Obama make an oblique reference to his rivals as he implored voters to believe in his call for change.
“After we won Iowa, everyone was so excited. Everybody said, ‘Oh, look at this, an African-American is winning in a state with almost no African-Americans and everybody is excited, young people came out,’” Mr. Obama said. “Well, you know what? The status quo does not give up that easily.”
Mrs. Clinton dashed to several sites across the state to greet voters. She was scheduled to fly to Tennessee for a Saturday evening rally, one of several signs that the campaign was seeking to lower expectations in the state.
Meanwhile, Mr. Obama took a break from doing satellite television interviews and making calls to key political leaders to drop by Harper’s Restaurant near downtown Columbia. He greeted nearly every customer in the restaurant, including Scott Boyd, 42, who said he is a lifelong Republican but voted for Mr. Obama on Saturday.
“He’s an aggregator,” said Mr. Boyd, a neurosurgeon in Columbia. “I think he can bring people together. For me to be brought out of my Republican shell – I’m a convert now.”
With a victory in New Hampshire and Nevada on Mrs. Clinton’s side, Mr. Obama is seeking to even the odds with her in advance of 22 primaries and caucuses on Feb. 5. Mr. Edwards, who was born in South Carolina, was looking to keep his candidacy alive with a strong showing here.
The voting took place against a backdrop of intense racial discussions. One poignant reminder of South Carolina’s historic racial divide, the Confederate flag, was swaying in the cool breeze on Saturday only a few yards from where supporters waved placards for Mr. Obama, who would become the nation’s first black president.
Some of Mr. Obama’s strategists worried that the discussions on race could influence the outcome here on Saturday and drive some white voters away from Mr. Obama’s candidacy, boosting the efforts of Mr. Edwards or Mrs. Clinton.
Rick Wade, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign, disagreed with the suggestion that support from white voters had decreased or that race would be a deciding factor in the primary’s outcome.
“At the end of the day, I believe that South Carolinians are going to look beyond the rhetoric and the conversations taking place and are more concerned about issues,” Mr. Wade said. “You have to build a broad coalition. It’s the only way you can win in this state.”
Mr. Edwards began his day with a morning stop at a cafe in Mount Pleasant, outside Charleston, where he shook hands with diners and posed for pictures. Speaking to reporters in front of the café, he called Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama “two candidates who are devoting all their time and energy to tearing each other down.”
And he vowed to continue in his bid for the Democratic nomination, no matter what the result of the South Carolina primary. “I’m keeping moving no matter what,” he said.
Later in the morning, Mr. Edwards stopped at a polling station in Columbia, accompanied by Leon Howard, a South Carolina state representative who has endorsed Mr. Edwards.
In an appearance on the “Today” show Saturday morning, Mr. Edwards called himself “way the underdog” and said he believed the circumstances of the race have changed this week.
“I think things have shifted some this week, because of what happened in the debate and what’s happened subsequently with a lot of the petty squabbling that’s come from the others,” Mr. Edwards said. “I think what people in South Carolina seem to be responding to is that I’m talking about them and the things that affect their lives, like jobs and health care.”
According to a recent poll, Mr. Edwards is within striking distance of a second-place finish in South Carolina, where he won the Democratic primary in 2004. On Sunday, he plans to depart on a two-day campaign swing through Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri, states that will hold primary contests on Feb. 5.
