Hillary Clinton Wins South Carolina's Democratic Primary
PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- Make it two in a row for Hillary Clinton.
The former Secretary of State defeated Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday.
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Clinton's lopsided win — she led by 48 points with nearly all precincts counted — provided an important boost for her campaign and a moment to wipe away bitter memories of her loss to Barack Obama in South Carolina eight years ago. She won the support of nearly 9 in 10 black voters, crucial Democratic backers who abandoned her for Obama in 2008.
During a raucous victory rally, Clinton briefly reveled in her sweeping support from South Carolina voters, hugging backers and posing with them for selfie photos. But then she pivoted quickly to the contests to come.
"Tomorrow this campaign goes national," she said. "We are not taking anything, and we are not taking anyone, for granted."
Sanders, expecting defeat, left the state even before voting was finished and turned his attention to next Tuesday's delegate-rich contests.
Putting South Carolina behind him, upon his arrival in Rochester, Minnesota, Saturday night, he gave a campaign speech of more than 50 minutes to cheering supporters — and never mentioned the day's events.
Before the speech, he told reporters, "In politics on a given night, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Tonight we lost."
Though Saturday's turnout was low, Clinton allies quickly touted the breadth of her victory. Besides blacks, she won most women and voters aged 30 and over, according to early exit polls.
Sanders continued to do well with young voters, his most passionate supporters. He also carried those who identified themselves as independents. All registered voters could vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary but not in both.
A self-described democratic socialist, Sanders has energized his supporters with impassioned calls for breaking up Wall Street banks and making tuition free at public colleges and universities. But the senator from Vermont, a state where about 1 percent of the population is black, lacks Clinton's deep ties to the African-American community.
Still, he did invest heavily in South Carolina, with 200 paid staff on the ground and an aggressive television advertising campaign.
Exit polls showed 6 in 10 voters in the primary were black, by far the largest proportion in any of the contests so far. About 7 in 10 said they wanted the next president to continue Obama's policies, and only about 20 percent wanted a more liberal course of action, according to the polls conducted by Edison Research for The Associated Press and television networks.
Clinton's second White House bid lurched to an uneven start, with a narrow victory over Sanders in Iowa and a crushing loss to the senator in New Hampshire. She pulled off a 5-point win over Sanders in last week's Nevada caucus, a crucial victory that helped stem Sanders' momentum.
Clinton's campaign hopes her strong showing in South Carolina foreshadows similar outcomes in states like Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia that vote Tuesday and have large minority populations.
Taken together, 865 Democratic delegates are up for grabs in the Super Tuesday contests in 11 states and American Samoa. Sanders is hoping to stay close to Clinton in the South while focusing most of his attention on states in the Midwest and Northeast, including his home state of Vermont.
Sanders has built a massive network of small donors and has the money to stay in the race deep into the spring. Still, Clinton's campaign sees a chance to build enough of a delegate lead to put the race out of reach during the sprint through March.
Clinton's will pick up most of South Carolina's delegates, widening her overall lead in AP's count. With 53 delegates at stake, Clinton will receive 39, Sanders 14.
Going into South Carolina, Clinton had just a one-delegate edge over Sanders. However, she also has a massive lead among superdelegates, the Democratic Party leaders who can vote for the candidate of their choice at this summer's national convention, regardless of how their states vote.
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Philadelphia in July.
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
