In January 2008, after Hillary Clinton suffered a devastating loss to Barack Obama in the South Carolina presidential primary, Bill Clinton infamously dismissed Obama’s victory, noting that Jesse Jackson had also won there twice.
Bill’s remark was seen as a racist dog whistle aimed at scaring off white voters, and it triggered a fierce backlash against the Clintons within the black community and among many liberals.
The irony, however, is that as dismissive as Clintons were of the importance of South Carolina in 2008, the state is quickly emerging as Hillary’s 2008 firewall.
As Bernie Sanders surges in polls in Iowa and holds a growing lead over Clinton in New Hampshire, South Carolina remains solidly in Clinton’s camp, with recent polls showing her leading by 23 points and 30 points.
Though Obama was able to build a winning coalition that brought together younger voters, educated whites, along with strong support among black voters, thus far, Sanders has had trouble making inroads among black voters, who comprise a large share of the Democratic electorate in South Carolina.
If Clinton falters in the early states, she’ll have to rely on South Carolina to steady the ship. And I imagine we’ll be seeing a lot of that 2008 clip of Bill Clinton.
