OpEdNews - Page 3 of Article: EARTH TO BILL CLINTON: SHUT THE (BLEEP) UP!

In 1998, Morrison wrote a column for The New Yorker magazine in which she wrote of Bill Clinton: "White skin notwithstanding, this is our first black president. Blacker than any actual black person who could ever be elected in our children's lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas."

A delighted Obama responded to Morrison's endorsement with a written statement: "Toni Morrison has touched a nation with the grace and beauty of her words, and I was deeply moved and honored by the letter she wrote and the support she is giving our campaign."

Exit Polls: Obama's South Carolina Victory More Broad-Based Than Expected

Exit polls found that the breadth and depth of Obama's support in Saturday's primary was much greater than anyone expected. The Illinois senator carried all but two of South Carolina's 46 counties. In a state where African Americans make up half of the Democratic electorate, Obama, as expected, won the overwhelming support of black voters. But he unexpectedly pulled even with Clinton among white voters overall and -- much to the former first lady's chagrin -- won among women.

The reason? Solid support for the Illinois senator from two voting blocs that the former president -- and the media -- all but ignored: Independents, who cast their votes in the Democratic primary in greater numbers than in the Republican primary one week earlier; and young people under 30, who voted in record numbers -- and went nearly two-to-one for Obama.

Total turnout in the Democratic primary was a record 532,000, surpassing the 445,000 votes cast in the GOP primary. Much of Obama's larger-than-expected majority came at native son John Edwards' expense. Edwards, who easily won the state's primary four years ago, finished a distant third, with a dismal 18 percent of the vote.

The exit polls found that Obama lost only among voters aged 65 and over -- who made up only 11 percent of South Carolinians who cast their ballots in the primary -- and their votes split almost evenly between Clinton and Edwards. Obama led among men overall.

Edwards, a one-term former North Carolina senator, vowed to stay in the race until at least the February 5 "Super Tuesday" primaries in 24 states. But questions remained about whether Edwards can stay in the race after losing in his native state so badly -- and whether his campaign can come up with the money needed to carry on.

Obama Swipes Back at 'Conventional' Clintons

"We are up against conventional thinking that says your ability to lead as president comes from longevity in Washington or proximity to the White House," Obama said in a thinly veiled swipe at the Clintons in his victory speech. "But we know that real leadership is about candor, and judgment, and the ability to rally Americans from all walks of life around a common purpose — a higher purpose."

Looking ahead to the "Super Tuesday" primaries next week, he added that "nearly half the nation will have the chance to join us in saying that we are tired of business-as-usual in Washington, we are hungry for change, and we are ready to believe again."

A prominent supporter of Obama on Wednesday compared the former president's appeals for his wife to the tactics used by the late Lee Atwater, a Republican strategist who to this day remains infamous within Democratic circles.

When asked by a reporter about the comparison, Clinton reacted with anger, wagging his finger at the reporter and insisting it was "a distraction from what voters really cared about."

Dick Harpootlian, a former chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party and a supporter of Obama, said in an interview with CNN that some of Bill Clinton's recent remarks on the campaign trail were appeals based on race and gender, meant to "suppress the vote, demoralize voters and distort the record."

Harpootlian said the remarks were "reminiscent of Lee Atwater," the hard-hitting Republican strategist who worked for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and whose tactics were reviled by many Democrats. Atwater, who died of cancer in 1991, employed tactics that were raised to an art form by Karl Rove.

GOP Salivating at Chance to Rip Clintons in Fall Campaign

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