The SC Dem primary

Democrats in SC will cast their vote today for the guy (or gal) they think should be their nominee for president. The polls opened at 7. Unlike like last Saturday’s Republican primary, Dem voters in SC won’t be experiencing any weather issues other than it being cold with a little bit of rain here and there. Keep that in mind when you start hearing turnout figures, which will probably be higher than they were last week. The turnout for the Republican primary was somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% compared to 26% in 2000.

Polls are showing that Barack Obama has a strong lead going into today’s primary. Of interest to the top three contenders are what percentage of the black vote they are going to get, considering that black people make up around 50% of the electorate in SC. Obama is predicted to win an overwhelming number of black votes, but Bill Clinton has been working hard all week to try to remind black voters in SC how he was the first black president, and how his wife will (supposedly) follow in the same mold.

John Edwards has had a slight “surge” in the polls, gaining four points in one where Obama lost four points, which put Edwards and Hillary in a statistical tie for second. Edwards has spent all week pandering for the black vote by talking about his “humble background” growing up in the south. Here in the border city of Charlotte, NC he has run ads on black radio stations with black voters talking about how he “understands” their “situation” (whatever that means).

I won’t be around today to liveblog the primary like I was last Saturday (having a belated bday get-together most of the day with my mom and sisters – a girls day out thing), but I’ll try to check in later tonight as results come in, particularly if it looks like something unpredictable is going to happen – like Hillary winning, or Edwards taking 2nd place.

Update: This shocks no one: Obama wins handily in SC.