Don't Dismiss South Carolina

by Steve Soto

I don't want to step on Eriposte's fine work and analysis of the Clinton-Obama feud and how it has played out in the contests so far, but I feel obliged to weigh in with my own thoughts, since I was the one who pushed this blog down the road with an early personal endorsement of Hillary months ago.

Bill and Hillary threw the kitchen sink into the effort in South Carolina. No matter what their reasons, whether it was to counter perceived slights or outright lies by the Obama campaign about what the Clintons themselves said; Bill's record as president and claim to being the first "black president"; or to take issue with Obama's all-too-willingness to pander to the GOP to attract crossover votes, the truth is that Team Clinton made a maximum effort to push back against Obama in the state.

And in the end, Hillary lost both the African American and the youth vote by significant margins, at a time when Democratic turnout in a red state dwarfed GOP turnout.

Folks, if your only claim to fame in the contest is that you pulled more older white voters than your opponent did, while perceived to be burning the house down to get the nomination at any cost, then your campaign needs to take a long hard look in the mirror.

November 2008 was, and is all about one thing for the Democrats: winning the White House. It is NOT about installing a certain individual in the White House, whether that be Hillary or Obama. Campaigns are not for the squeamish, nor are they for arsonists. It is not an accident that many senators and figures of the party are endorsing Obama over Clinton. They are looking to the future of the party, and the possibility of down-ballot gains with him at the top of the ticket (perhaps with Edwards or Bill Richardson as a running mate). But when they look at Team Clinton, they see a team that can't control surrogates or doesn't want to, and a team that spent more time counterpunching than they did in selling Hillary as a change agent and future of the party in her own right.

Some will dismiss South Carolina as just a bump in the road before the really big contests next month and thereafter. But if you throw the kitchen sink at a man, and you end up getting blown out and losing the African American and youth votes at the same time, you'd better take another look at how you plan to get those votes back for November - if you can. Because if the Democratic Party can't attract those voters to the polls this November, then this is all a waste of time and the death of this country should the GOP get another four years.