Democratic candidates rally their party in South Carolina
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Three Democratic presidential candidates gathered on Saturday to rally their party faithful and make it official: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley will be on the ballot in South Carolina.
"It is absolutely imperative that we do everything we can leading up to this primary to convince South Carolinians to turn out and vote," Clinton said, speaking to the crowd gathered for the Charleston County Democratic Party's annual Blue Jamboree.
Clinton made her pitch, reiterating the pledge she made during the last debate not to raise taxes on the middle class. She dinged Sanders, who spoke first, on his plan to create a "Medicare-for-all," single-payer health care system.
"Other candidates want to increase taxes for working people and the middle class as part of their health care plans," she said. "Well, I don't want to see your taxes go up."
Sanders, in his speech, made an effort to emphasize his commitment to criminal justice reform and O'Malley, who ditched his suit jacket and tie, continued to draw a sharp contrast with the other candidates.
"My name is Martin O'Malley," he said. "I am not a former socialist, I am not a former Republican."
And sitting between the American and South Carolina flags, each candidate signed their statement of candidacy for the South Carolina primary election.
Clinton is the current favorite among South Carolinia Democrats, earning 69 percent of the vote among likely Democratic primary voters in the state, according to a Monmouth University Poll released earlier this month. That's compared to 21 percent who said they would support Sanders, and one percent who chose O'Malley.
Her campaign's organizational strength showed at Saturday's event, with many of the attendees passing through the magnetometers to claim the first seats sporting royal blue t-shirts emblazoned with her logo on the front. A Sanders staffer passed out free t-shirts and "Bernie" signs and, as Clinton's remarks grew closer, a crowd of sign-wielding Sanders fans edged closer to the press riser and into direct view of the television cameras.
Their candidate is working hard to make up the difference in the state: Saturday was the second day of a four-day swing through the South, which includes six public stops in South Carolina and two in Georgia. Sanders told reporters ahead of his remarks that he was "confident" that he would fare "really, really well in South Carolina."
But, when pressed, he conceded that he has a ways to go.
"I will not deny that if the election was held today, we would lose," Sanders said. "Fortunately for us, the election is not being held today."
Junius Paul Wright III, a high school teacher in Charleston, said he has been waiting for a candidate like Sanders, a self-described "democratic socialist." He said that Sanders' popularity among his circle of friends and colleagues is growing.
"Some of the Hillary supporters that I'm friends with, they were making fun of me at first," said Wright, who has voted with the Green Party in the past. "Now, not so much."
Heather Jones, a graphic designer from Daniel Island who owns her own business, came to the event as an undecided voter but walked away as an O'Malley supporter.
"You have my vote," she told him as he approached her and shook her hand after he made his remarks.
Jones had used her lipstick to write "O'Malley" in capital letters on the back of the Clinton sign she was holding. An official O'Malley sign wasn't an option because, though the crowd seemed to respond positively to his message Saturday, his campaign seemed largely absent from the event.
O'Malley has been spending more of his time campaigning in Iowa, where campaign officials recently made the decision to shift a bulk of their resources in the run up to the first votes there and in New Hampshire.
In his speech, O'Malley acknowledged his challenge in the race, in South Carolina and nationally.
"For a long time watching the national news I'm sure you thought you only had two choices," he said. "Well, guess what? You've got three."