Senator Barack Obama won a commanding victory over Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, drawing a wide majority of black support and one-quarter of white voters in a contest that sets the stage for a multistate fight for the party’s presidential nomination.In a bitter campaign here infused with discussions of race, Obama’s convincing victory puts him on equal footing with Clinton — with two wins each in early-voting states—and gives him fresh momentum as the contest plunges into a nationwide battle over the next 10 days.The questions surrounding Barack Obama’s victory in South Carolina: Was the split between white and black voters an anomaly in a state were the Confederate flag still flies on the statehouse grounds? Or has the Clinton campaign successfully marginalised him as the “black candidate?” What’s clear is that for Obama to win the nomination, he will have to improve his performance among white voters over South Carolina. Being the clear favorite among blacks won’t be enough as the candidates turn to 22 states that hold contests on February 5.Obama’s overwhelming victory over Hillary Rodham Clinton came with 80 percent of South Carolina’s black voters backing him, but only a quarter of whites. Clinton and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards each got about a third of the white vote.That’s a division Obama will have to close if he is to win the nomination.“The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders,” Obama said in his victory speech Saturday night, delivered with mostly white supporters seated behind him. “It’s not about rich versus poor, young versus old, and it is not about black versus white. It’s about the past versus the future.”Obama has proven that he has appeal among whites. He won Iowa, one of the whitest states in the country, and won more than a third of white voters in multi-candidate contests in New Hampshire and Nevada — even though Clinton won both states.But that changed in South Carolina, where racial tensions still run high. The state delivered a stunning rejection to Hillary Rodham Clinton and perhaps even more so her husband, famously regarded as the “first black president.” The black voters of South Carolina said they wanted Obama in the White House instead of another Clinton.Bill Clinton was the one who worked the state all week long as Obama’s chief critic, even as his wife turned her attention to the states voting on February 5 in anticipation of the loss. Voters listened who more than half said the former president’s campaigning was an important factor in their decision, according to exit polls collected by The Associated Press and television networks. But people who said Bill Clinton’s campaigning made a difference in their vote still supported Obama.Among those voters was Iris Gladden, a self-described news junkie and black voter who lives in rural Timmonsville, SC. She struggled all year to decide whether to support Clinton or Obama. She said the decision was made when she heard Bill Clinton lambaste Obama for his position on the Iraq war. She said she was offended by the Clintons’ air of entitlement and cast her vote Saturday for Obama.“He said, ‘Give me a break, is this a fairy tale,’” Gladden said. “Even when he was advised to cut down on it, he didn’t. Based on that negativity, I made up my mind.”THE RACEIN FloridaRepublican RaceRepublican Mitt Romney climbed into a tie with John McCain three days before a critical presidential primary in Florida, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday.Democratic RaceDemocrats also will hold a primary in Florida, but because of a dispute between the state and national parties over the date of the contest, none of the presidential contenders has campaigned there and no delegates to the national nominating convention are at stake
