COLUMBIA, South Carolina (Agencies)
Senator Barack Obama easily won South Carolina's bitterly contested Democratic presidential primary, riding massive African-American support to a critical win in his bid to become the first black U.S. president.
With nearly all the votes counted, Obama had doubled Clinton's vote total, winning 55 percent to her 27 percent. Edwards came in third with just 18 percent.
The South Carolina vote marked a second key victory for the Illinois senator and evened the score with Clinton, who has also won two key state primaries ahead of a blitz of nearly two dozen nationwide contests on February 5.
In his victory speech, Obama highlighted the differences between himself and Clinton, painting her as a representative of the "status quo" as his cheering supporters chanted "We want change," and "Yes, we can!"
"There are real differences between the candidates. We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We are looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington," Obama said.
"It's a status quo that extends beyond a particular party and that status quo is fighting back with everything it’s got, with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face."
Clinton had grabbed the momentum with successive victories in New Hampshire and Nevada. The New York senator acknowledged her defeat in South Carolina and vowed to take her fight to become the first female U.S. president nationwide.
"I have called Senator Obama to congratulate him and wish him well," said a statement issued by the former first lady's campaign.
"We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make their voices heard in Florida and the 22 states as well as American Samoa who will vote on February 5."
The state primaries serve to nominate a sole candidate in both the Democratic and Republican parties in the campaign to replace President George W. Bush, whose White House term ends in 2009.
Exit polls showed the vote was divided along racial and gender lines, in a state where African-Americans make up half the Democratic electorate. |
