http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/barackobama/story/0,,2247783,00.html Ewen MacAskill and Suzanne Goldenberg in Columbia, South Carolina Sunday January 27, 2008 Guardian Unlimited Barack Obama won by a landslide in South Carolina tonight, moving into a strong position ahead of the Democrats' multi-state contest on February 5. With more than 95% of the results in, Obama far exceeded expectations, taking twice as many votes as Hillary Clinton, 55% to 26%. It was the first primary when the winner has gotten more than 50% of the vote. John Edwards came in a distant third in his home state, frustrating his hopes of making a comeback ahead of Super Tuesday. Obama told a cheering crowd in Columbia that he had shown that Iowa, the first primary, was not a fluke. "We have the most votes, the most delegates, and the most diverse coalition of Americans." Clinton lost no time in conceding, issuing a statement of congratulations to Obama as she headed for a rally in Tennessee. But her husband, who was an equal partner in the negative campaigning against Obama in South Carolina sounded a more combative note. "He won fair and square," Bill Clinton told a rally in Independence, Missouri. "Now we go to February 5 when millions of Americans finally get into the act." While Clinton still remains the favourite to come out on top on February 5, when 22 states are up for grabs, the win in South Carolina could help Obama narrow the poll gap. His support came overwhelmingly from African-Americans but he also took a share of the white vote, particularly among the young. Obama received an additional boost with a hugely symbolic endorsement from Caroline Kennedy, the only surviving child of the late John F Kennedy. "Over the years, I've been deeply moved by the people who've told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president," she wrote in an opinion piece for Sunday's New York Times. "This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting ... Barack Obama." The scale of Obama's victory throws into doubt wisdom of the negative tactics adopted by the Clintons. The primary, the first in the south, was bitterly contested between Obama and Clinton, aided by her husband. Exit polls showed voters starkly divided by race, with Obama carried to victory by 81% of the African American vote. Clinton had 17% of the African American vote, and John Edwards just 1%. However, the gender gap that carried Clinton to victory in New Hampshire and Nevada did not materialise. Although she won 42% of white women voters, the overwhelming majority of African American women voted for Obama. Clinton also performed poorly among white male voters. Obama took a battering from Hillary and Bill Clinton all week, with bogus claims he supported Reaganite policies and bringing up his links with a slum landlord in Chicago facing a fraud trial. It was a risky strategy for the Clintons who faced a lot of criticism from inside the Democratic party, amid fears that the tactics could polarise the electorate and could alienate African-Americans. But exit polls showed the electorate blamed both Obama and the Clintons for the squabbling. About 50% blamed both, 21% blamed Hillary Clinton and 6% Obama. The exit polls also suggested the electorate was not as split on race as some had feared, with 77% saying the country was ready for an African-American president. Roughly the same percentage, 74%, said they were ready for a woman president. Clinton's team concluded weeks ago they could not win South Carolina because about 50% of the Democratic electorate would be African-American and would vote overwhelmingly for Obama. Hillary Clinton spent only part of the week in South Carolina and campaigned instead elsewhere. She left South Carolina before the polling booths closed. Both Obama and Edwards remained in the state for post-election parties but Obama then headed for Alabama to continue campaigning. The next test is Florida on Tuesday. Although officially the Democratic party prohibited campaigning in the state because it broke its rules by holding its primary early, all the candidates' names remain on the ballot papers. Supporters of Clinton and Obama have been campaigning there and Clinton is to make fund-raising stops there on Sunday. --

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