The president of the United States, Joe Biden, swept this Saturday in the South Carolina Democratic Primary in a date that marks the beginning of the party’s contest for the november elections and that it is particularly important to assess the level of enthusiasm of the African-American community.
With half of the ballots counted, Biden won in South Carolinaobtaining a 96.4 percent of the vote and leaving her two main rivals far behind: the author of self-help books Marianne Williamson (2 percent) and Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips (1.6 percent).
Shortly after the results were known, Biden stated in a statement that South Carolina, who already resurrected his campaign in the 2020 primaries, has put him back “on the path” to winning the Presidency and making former president Donald Trump (2017-2021) a “loser” again.
Biden himself He is not in South Carolina this Saturday to celebrate the victory. However, in the last month, he has visited three black churches in the state and his campaign has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on radio and television ads to reach African-American voters.
Participation of the African American community
With victory assured, the real challenge of Biden in this appointment is to demonstrate his ability to mobilize the party’s base, particularly the African-American community, which represents 60 percent of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina.
The best way to gauge enthusiasm for Biden is through turnout results, which will be made public when the count is complete.
In the 2020 primaries, in the middle of the pandemic, they went to the polls 538 thousand 263 voters. However, the dynamic was different, since at that time Biden was competing with several Democrats who were seeking the party’s nomination and, with more at stake, voters were more motivated to participate.
During the day this Saturday, participation in a voting center in Columbia, the state capital, was “constant,” the person in charge of that position, Rosalyn Shaw, explained to EFE, who claimed to have observed an influx similar to other occasions.
Voters continuously went to this voting center at the Eau Claire Institute and, when asked by EFE, they agreed that one of the main reasons for voting was rejection of Trump, at the same time that they expressed concern about the economy.
Deborah Seawright, a 68-year-old African American, made it clear that the character of the candidates is very important to her: while she praised Biden for being a “family man,” she criticized Trump for “not having been fair or honest,” concluding that the United States does not need such a president.
The symbolism of South Carolina
South Carolina It was the first appointment of the Democratic race because last year, at the initiative of Biden, the party changed the primary calendar, snatching away Iowa and New Hampshire the first positions they had held since 1972, and granting that honor to the southern state.
This modification had two objectives: to reaffirm the loyalty of Biden to the state that revived its candidacy in 2020 after poor results in Iowa and New Hampshire, as well as including more diverse voices in the primary process, such as those of the African-American community, key in South Carolinaand the Hispanic, who will be the protagonist in the Nevada primaries on Tuesday.
Despite its symbolic power, South Carolina will only assign 55 delegates of the almost 2 thousand that Biden needs to officially proclaim himself as the Democratic candidate for the November elections, where he could once again face Trump, favorite to be the Republican candidate.
The Republican primaries, where Trump will compete against the former US ambassador to the UN and former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haleyare scheduled for February 24.
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Despite the investment of Democratic Party in South Carolinathis state is not in play in November, as it is considered a conservative stronghold that has not voted for the Democratic presidential candidate since 1976, with Jimmy Carter (1977-1981).