This story line, too, is well-supported by an analysis of the voting, if the pundits look for it. Three remarkable things beyond Obama’s overwhelming support among African Americans emerged from the South Carolina returns and exit polls. The first is that Obama alone received more total votes than were cast for all candidates in the 2004 Democratic primary. That’s right. In 2004, Democrats cast 294,000 votes. This year Obama alone captured a thousand more and the total Democratic vote topped a half million.
The second is that 100,000 more South Carolinians voted in the Democratic primary than the Republican primary in a state that has been absolutely rock solid Republican in national elections for a long, long time.
And the third is that Barack Obama, according to exit polls, captured two-thirds of the vote of those under age 30 – including 52 percent of young white voters in a state that still flies the Confederate flag. Clinton in turn captured 40 percent of all the over 65 votes. It is this generational divide, its ability to lure new voters to the poll and the strong but contrasting qualities of these candidates that should dominate news commentary between now and Feb. 5. Otherwise the news media will be taking the very bait they have criticized Bill Clinton for dropping along the path in South Carolina.
She wrote: “Sen. Obama … has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people – known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics – to become engaged in the political process.”
If the press plays it straight and gives at least equal weight to this frame of the choice before voters, the Democratic primary should stay very, very close clear into the spring.
If …..
Jerry Lanson teaches journalism at Emerson College in Boston. He can be reached at jerry_lanson@emerson.edu.
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