2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary South Carolina presidential no 2004 South Carolina Democratic primary 2004 2016 South Carolina Democratic primary 2016 2008 01 26 File:Barack Obama Senate portrait crop.jpg 150x150px Barack Obama 800080 Illinois 25 295,214 55.4% File:Hillary Rodham Clinton-cropped.jpg Hillary Clinton D4AA00 New York 12 141,217 26.5% File:John Edwards.JPG (2151410778) (cropped).jpg John Edwards FF7F2A North Carolina 8 93,576 17.6% 250px 220px County resultsObama: #f5e1f5 30–40% #e1bbe1 40–50% #cf94cf 50–60% #bd6fbd 60–70% #a949a9 70–80%Clinton: #ffeed5 30–40%Edwards: #fc9978 40–50% NV FL The 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on January 26, 2008. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won the primary's popular vote by a 28.9% margin. For both parties in 2008, South Carolina's was the first primary in a Southern state and the first primary in a state in which African Americans make up a sizable percentage of the electorate. For Democrats, it was also the last primary before 22 states hosted their primaries or caucuses on February 5, 2008 (Super Tuesday). South Carolina's 45 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention were awarded proportionally based on the results of the primary. The state also sent nine superdelegates. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#SC CNN Election Center 2008: Primary Results May 23, 2010 Candidates Remaining New York Senator Hillary Clinton Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel Illinois Senator Barack Obama Eliminated Delaware Senator Joe Biden Dropped out on January 4, 2008 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22484066 Obama, Huckabee win Iowa Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd Dropped out on January 4, 2008 New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Dropped out on January 10, 2008 http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/09/richardson.out/index.html New Mexico Gov. Richardson drops out of '08 Race CNN January 10, 2008 May 23, 2010 Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich Dropped out on January 25, 2008 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012403391.html Kucinich Drops Out The Washington Post January 25, 2008 May 23, 2010 New York Comedian Stephen Colbert Denied Ballot (13-3) on November 1, 2007 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/01/south-carolina-democrats-say-no-to-colbert/ https://web.archive.org/web/20071102171803/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/01/south-carolina-democrats-say-no-to-colbert/ dead November 2, 2007 SC Democrats reject Colbert's candidacy CNN May 23, 2010 and dropped out November 5, 2007 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/05/colbert-weeping-over-democratic-rejection/ https://web.archive.org/web/20071107075216/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/05/colbert-weeping-over-democratic-rejection/ dead November 7, 2007 Colbert on Democratic Rejection CNN May 23, 2010 Campaign Finances On the day of the South Carolina primary, Senator John Edwards led in fund raising from the state of South Carolina, followed by Barack Obama and Bill Richardson. Obtained from CNN as of January 26, 2008 https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ CNN Map: Campaign money race- May 23, 2010 Candidate Money raised (US$) John Edwards $316,319 Barack Obama$257,118 Bill Richardson$196,850 Hillary Clinton$131,950 Joe Biden $55,350 Chris Dodd$22,750 Dennis Kucinich$3,750 Polling leading up to primary Statewide opinion polling for the January Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008#South Carolina All monthly averages were retrieved from RealClearPolitics. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/sc/south_carolina_democratic_primary-234.html#polls RealClear Politics- Election 2008- South Carolina Candidate November December January Final 3 Polls Averages Hillary Clinton 40% 34% 27% 28% Barack Obama 27% 33% 41% 48% John Edwards 11% 15% 17% 23% cornflowerblue darkgray Denotes Leader during Poll Average Despite maintaining a major early lead in the polls, Senator Clinton rapidly fell after the Iowa Caucuses, as Barack Obama skyrocketed and John Edwards began to receive a gradual increase in the polling. However, in the last three polls taken before the South Carolina Primary, Barack Obama took a commanding lead over both Edwards and Clinton. Also, Former Senator John Edwards had come into the margin of error with Senator Clinton for second place in the South Carolina Primary. Final Campaigning Obama Campaign Barack Obama presidential primary campaign, 2008 thumb|left| 150px| Presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses supporters the night before South Carolina's primary Throughout the South Carolina campaign, most pundits had predicted Barack Obama the winner, primarily because of the state's large African-American population. For this reason, Obama was shown to be significantly ahead of his two rivals, John Edwards, who carried the state in 2004, and Hillary Clinton, whose husband was popular in the African-American community. In early polls taken in the weeks leading up to the primary, Clinton had a double-digit lead over both Edwards and Obama (see poll averages above). During a majority of the final campaigning, the attacks between the Clinton campaign and the Obama campaign highly intensified by the candidates as well as the media coverage. Barack Obama began to attack former President Bill Clinton for his comments which were taken as racist. These comments are considered by analyst and historians alike as the turning point of the South Carolina primary and ultimately the cause of Clinton's loss of support from the black community.January 2012 Despite the increasing tensions between the Clinton and Obama camps, Obama continued to widely lead in the polls (despite a surge by Edwards). Into the final days of the campaign in South Carolina, it became apparent that Obama would win by a rather wide margin. The final tally had Obama winning by 28.9% over his closest rival, Hillary Clinton. Clinton Campaign Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2008 In the early months of the campaign, Clinton enjoyed a steep lead over Senator Obama, and a 30-point lead over former Senator John Edwards. However, after Obama's win in Iowa, Clinton's campaign in South Carolina began to fall apart by the Obama political machine rolling into South Carolina with force. For Clinton, despite winning the popular vote in Nevada, the fact that she had lost Nevada's National Delegates, receiving 12 compared to Obama's 13 still lingered in the media. This, combined with the fact of Bill Clinton's continuing negative publicity from "injecting race into the campaign" as several people called Bill Clinton's actions in his wife's campaign. Between battling media scrutiny on Bill Clinton, constant attacks between the Obama and Clinton campaigns, and a surging John Edwards which threatened a Clinton second-place finish, poll number began to plunge, with a poll taken by Reuters-Cspan-Zogby showing Clinton in the margin of error for second place with Edwards, with Edwards at 21% and Clinton at 25%. This was also combined with the fact of Edwards's constant barrage of attacks claiming Clinton (and Obama's) big city politics were "too good for the people of South Carolina". However, despite the attacks from opponents that Bill Clinton's attacks largely alienated African-Americans, Clinton was able to keep a 35% support amongst that key constituency, while losing the white vote to Edwards, In the end, Clinton's African-American support was able to place her in a clear second-place finish, finishing 9 points ahead of John Edwards despite losing to Obama by 29 points. Edwards Campaign John Edwards presidential campaign, 2008 After the terrible results for the Edwards Campaign during the Nevada caucuses, in which Edwards finished in third with 4% of the state delegation and received no national delegates, South Carolina began to look as a state where he needed a strong finish, after finishing in third in the last three primaries which took place, and trailing in the number of total national delegates. South Carolina was the state in which Edwards was born and raised. In 2004, Edwards won the South Carolina Primary, with 45% of the vote to John Kerry's 30% and Al Sharpton's 10%. While entering South Carolina, it became apparent that he needed a first-place finish, which seemed impossible, or a second-place finish, which seemed more within grasp. Before the CNN South Carolina Debate in Myrtle Beach on Monday, January 21, 2008, John Edwards was placing a distant third in a poll taken before the debates on January 19, in which he placed third with 15% compared to Hillary Clinton's second place with 27%. http://www.pollster.com/08-SC-Dem-Pres-Primary.php Pollster.com 2008-02-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20080511192032/http://www.pollster.com/08-SC-Dem-Pres-Primary.php 2008-05-11 dead However, after the South Carolina debates, the tone of the campaign severely shifted. During the South Carolina Democratic Debate in Myrtle Beach, Edwards sought to distinguish himself from Senators Obama and Clinton, and criticized them for their attacks and "big city" politics. As soon as he began to question how the attacks helped, he was widely cheered by the audience for in what many people thought was what distinguished Edwards from negative campaigning. Saying "This kind of squabbling, how many children are going to get healthcare? How many people are going to get an education from this? How many kids are going to be able to go to college because of this? We have got to understand and I respect both of my fellow candidates, but we have got to understand that this is not about us personally, it is about what we are trying to do for this country and what we believe in", Edwards began to get applause from several members of the audience. http://www.johnedwards.com/media/video/sc-debate-what-matters/ John Edwards for President- South Carolina 2008-02-17 https://web.archive.org/web/20100505171812/http://johnedwards.com/media/video/sc-debate-what-matters/ 2010-05-05 dead After the debate, John Edwards began to see a major influx of money and in turn, poll numbers began to rise rapidly in Edwards's favor. Along with the debate performance, Bill Clinton's remarks began to alienate black supporters from Clinton, and white supporters from Obama. As a result, Edwards won amongst white voters ages 30 to 50, while receiving the same amount of support from white 60+ year olds as Hillary Clinton according to CNN Exit Polls https://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#SCDEM CNN Election Center 2008: Primary Exit Poll May 23, 2010 However, Edwards was not able to get much support from non-whites, and according to Exit Polls, received only 2% of the non-white support, while receiving 40% of the white support. Results Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries Barack Obama won the primary, taking 44 of the 46 counties; Edwards won in his native Oconee County, while Clinton won in Horry County, which contains Myrtle Beach.http://www.scdp.org/primary_results SC Dem. Party Election Results 2008-01-27 https://web.archive.org/web/20100403215438/http://www.scdp.org/primary_results/ 2010-04-03 dead Those in italics are candidates who have withdrawn from the race but still remained on the ballot. South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary Results – 2008 PartyCandidateVotesPercentageDelegates Projected national delegates Democratic Barack Obama 295,214 55.44% 25 33 Democratic Hillary Clinton 141,217 26.52% 12 12 Democratic John Edwards 93,576 17.57% 8 0 Democratic Bill Richardson 727 0.14% 0 0 Democratic Joe Biden 694 0.13% 0 0 Democratic Dennis Kucinich 552 0.1% 0 0 Democratic Christopher Dodd 247 0.05% 0 0 Democratic Mike Gravel 241 0.05% 0 0 Totals532,468100.00%4545 Results by county CountyClintonHillary%EdwardsJohn%ObamaBarack%OthersTotalsTEVTO%MVMV%ABBEVILLE73820.74%80222.54%2,00656.38%123,55812,67928.06%1,20433.84%AIKEN4,90133.53%1,86612.77%7,76853.14%8314,61881,69517.89%2,86719.61%ALLENDALE39227.07%926.35%95165.68%131,4485,14328.15%55938.60%ANDERSON5,48531.43%5,60332.11%6,31536.18%4917,45287,17020.02%7124.08%BAMBERG75127.57%2228.15%1,72063.14%312,7247,92934.35%96935.57%BARNWELL82029.93%2739.96%1,63259.56%152,74011,56923.68%81229.64%BEAUFORT5,11530.10%2,23913.18%9,55056.20%9016,99479,05621.50%4,43526.10%BERKELEY3,88023.48%2,67616.19%9,86959.72%10116,52674,90722.06%5,98936.24%CALHOUN69925.57%41315.11%1,60758.78%152,7348,88330.78%90833.21%CHARLESTON11,28723.49%6,43813.40%30,07362.59%24648,044176,39027.24%18,78639.10%CHEROKEE1,23825.95%1,49531.34%2,02542.45%124,77025,36218.81%53011.11%CHESTER1,08925.19%65015.04%2,55859.17%264,32316,17026.73%1,46933.98%CHESTERFIELD1,46826.56%1,29023.34%2,73749.51%335,52819,17428.83%1,26922.96%CLARENDON1,15519.00%80313.21%4,07967.11%416,07819,01831.96%2,92448.11%COLLETON1,11922.46%85517.16%2,97959.78%304,98319,24925.89%1,86037.33%DARLINGTON1,91121.43%1,28214.37%5,67263.59%548,91934,29826.00%3,76142.17%DILLON81419.06%69216.20%2,74964.36%164,27115,07328.34%1,93545.31%DORCHESTER3,23125.03%2,44418.93%7,16555.51%6812,90863,99020.17%3,93430.48%EDGEFIELD75425.81%2438.32%1,90865.32%162,92113,20322.12%1,15439.51%FAIRFIELD99620.04%53710.81%3,41068.63%264,96912,51239.71%2,41448.58%FLORENCE3,70022.09%2,22213.26%10,76864.28%6216,75265,70225.50%7,06842.19%GEORGETOWN1,95121.90%1,57317.66%5,33459.87%518,90934,58225.76%3,38337.97%GREENVILLE11,91827.93%9,04721.20%21,53250.45%18042,677222,32019.20%9,61422.53%GREENWOOD1,52820.68%1,43619.44%4,37359.19%517,38833,08722.33%2,84538.51%HAMPTON72621.73%36210.84%2,23266.81%213,34111,51729.01%1,50645.08%HORRY9,98338.57%7,24928.01%8,54133.00%10725,880127,39220.32%(1,442) -5.57%JASPER57718.76%1906.18%2,28574.28%243,07610,15030.31%1,70855.53%KERSHAW2,28527.97%1,50518.42%4,35353.29%268,16931,68025.79%2,06825.32%LANCASTER2,31830.75%1,67822.26%3,50546.50%377,53834,00822.17%1,18715.75%LAURENS1,59922.91%1,71924.63%3,63952.14%226,97930,91222.58%1,92027.51%LEE65017.20%42711.30%2,67370.71%303,78010,16637.18%2,02353.52%LEXINGTON7,88734.50%5,59124.46%9,30340.69%8022,861131,16517.43%1,4166.19%MARION95514.88%78612.25%4,63372.19%446,41818,67734.36%3,67857.31%MARLBORO1,00023.38%76017.77%2,50158.46%174,27813,78331.04%1,50135.09%MCCORMICK38221.52%18610.48%1,19567.32%121,7755,84830.35%81345.80%NEWBERRY1,20026.37%1,12024.61%2,20948.54%224,55118,16825.05%1,00922.17%OCONEE2,10628.99%3,25744.83%1,88425.93%187,26537,48319.38%(1,373) -18.90%ORANGEBURG4,58124.51%1,6348.74%12,37366.21%9918,68752,04735.90%7,79241.70%PICKENS2,52130.47%2,81534.03%2,90435.10%338,27354,97615.05%891.08%RICHLAND14,88823.46%6,1929.76%42,14666.41%23563,461187,98833.76%27,25842.95%SALUDA66227.34%46519.21%1,27952.83%152,4219,96324.30%61725.49%SPARTANBURG7,71930.43%6,32624.94%11,25044.35%7425,369130,51019.44%3,53113.92%SUMTER2,87019.16%1,2948.64%10,76571.87%4914,97851,73628.95%7,89552.71%UNION90821.62%1,22429.15%2,04848.77%194,19914,72128.52%82419.62%WILLIAMSBURG1,26617.40%5787.95%5,38073.95%517,27518,40939.52%4,11456.55%YORK6,96736.02%3,25016.80%9,02046.63%10619,343105,78118.29%2,05310.61%Totals140,99026.49%93,80117.63%294,89855.42%2,462532,1512,246,24123.69%153,90828.92% Delegates: The South Carolina Democratic Party - State Election Results https://web.archive.org/web/20171026152054/http://scdp.org/2016-state-convention-election-results/ October 26, 2017 Analysis 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primaryElection Guide 2008 - Presidential Election - Politics - Results - The New York Times https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/elections/2008/primaries/results/vote-polls/SC.html 2026-08-17 archive.nytimes.comDemographic subgroupObamaClintonEdwards% of total voteTotal vote552718100SexMale54232339Female54301661RaceWhite24364043Black7819255Age18-29 years old6723101430-446223152645-595526193460 and older38352726EducationNo college degree53281863College graduate53262237IncomeLess than $50,00057281553$50,000 - $75,00053242221$75,000 - $100,00050242611More than $100,00046302415Political philosophyVery liberal59311020Somewhat liberal51311824Moderate52232442Somewhat conservative48282410Very conservative5232155Issue that matters mostEconomy52291952War in Iraq58231919Health care56261825Candidate quality that matters mostCan bring about needed change75151054Cares about people like me40174324Has the right experience784914Has the best chance to win4036246 See also South Carolina primary South Carolina Republican primary, 2008 References External links US Election Atlas South Carolina Democratic Party 2008 SC Primary Category:2008 South Carolina elections Category:2008 United States Democratic presidential primaries by state or territory 2008