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| Originally Aired: January 24, 2008 |
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Democratic Hopefuls Face New Voter Viewpoints in S.C. |
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| Democratic candidates continued their appeals to South Carolina voters ahead of Saturday's primary, as polls suggested that Sen. Barack Obama's lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton may have narrowed slightly. Judy Woodruff reports on how voters are weighing their picks. |
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JIM LEHRER: And now, Saturday's South Carolina Democratic primary. Judy Woodruff has a report from there on what the voters have on their minds. JUDY WOODRUFF: Sunday morning at the largest African-American church in South Carolina, Bible Way Baptist, in its capital city, Columbia. Every week, more than 2,000 gather for worship and music. But last Sunday, there was an added element: politics. REV. DARRELL JACKSON, Bible Way Church of Atlas Road: Please don't forget to vote on Saturday. Cast your vote. It's a God-given right. JUDY WOODRUFF: With just days to go before the first Democratic primary election in the South, and notably the first primary this year where at least half the votes will be cast by African-Americans, there was Chelsea Clinton in a prominent seat, singing and praying with the rest of the congregation. Not a surprise, perhaps, because the minister of Bible Way, State Sen. Darrell Jackson, has known the Clintons for almost two decades, has endorsed Chelsea's mother, and is even paid by her campaign for his firm's public relations work on her behalf. REV. DARRELL JACKSON: I knew them when they were in Arkansas, but really got to know them after '92 when he became president. And I went to the State Senate here, and worked in his campaign in 1992, and worked in his re-election campaign four years later, and so have been really personal close friends to the Clintons. JUDY WOODRUFF: What is surprising is that 50 feet away from Chelsea Clinton and in an equally front-and-center seat was Michelle Obama, wife of the candidate not endorsed by Pastor Jackson, but invited by prominent church members to the service, her presence a sign of Barack Obama's popularity and a sign that ministers here, for all their influence, aren't all-powerful. What does your endorsement mean for Senator Clinton, in terms of -- I mean, does that mean automatically that your whole congregation will follow in your footsteps? What does it mean? REV. DARRELL JACKSON: It means she has one vote, and that's my vote. That's the only one I can really guarantee. As you saw today, we have a large, diverse congregation. JUDY WOODRUFF: Reverend Jackson made only passing reference to the third leading candidate in the race, John Edwards, who was born in South Carolina and who won the primary here four years ago. Bob Coble, the mayor of Columbia, is working hard for Edwards and admits his candidate has an uphill climb winning over black voters. MAYOR ROBERT COBLE, Columbia, South Carolina: Senator Clinton and her experience and family, of course, with President Clinton, is very strong. And obviously, Barack Obama is very strong. So I don't think it's anything about Edwards. I think it's just that, you know, this is a very exciting field. |
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Bill Clinton makes case for Hillary
JUDY WOODRUFF: If there's anyone else competing for attention, it's former President Bill Clinton. He's spending several days here, while his wife travels to states that vote on February 5th. We caught up with him at the Lizard's Thicket Diner in Columbia.Do you think that your being here in South Carolina is tantamount to her being here, the fact that she's not here today and you are? BILL CLINTON, Former President of the United States: No, but I'm a good surrogate for her, because, except for Chelsea, we know her better than anybody else personally. And we're probably more familiar with her positions. JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think Senator Clinton is going to win South Carolina? BILL CLINTON: I don't know if she's going to win it. I didn't know who was going to win in Iowa or New Hampshire or Nevada. JUDY WOODRUFF: You won here in '92. BILL CLINTON: Yes, but that was a different time. I was the only southerner to run. JUDY WOODRUFF: The former president easily won the South Carolina Democratic primary in 1992, in large part due to the whopping 82 percent of the black vote he captured that year. Many who voted for him say they're now voting for her. LEE BANDY, The State: Bill Clinton I think has spent more time campaigning here in South Carolina than Hillary. As we all know, Bill Clinton, known as the first black president, is a beloved figure in the black community. Bill Clinton has really worked the telephones down here. He has called up a lot of black ministers personally and put the pressure on them to back his wife. And some of these African-American leaders, if they said they were neutral, got a second phone call from Clinton. |
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Divisions among black supporters
JUDY WOODRUFF: But at Brookland Baptist, another large, well-established African-American church, Associate Minister Charles Jackson, Jr., supports Obama.REV. CHARLES JACKSON, JR., Brookland Baptist Church: I see him as being the person, the candidate that can truly galvanize a people, bringing people together to support one common cause. JUDY WOODRUFF: At the same time, Jackson laments the split among black ministers. REV. CHARLES JACKSON, JR.: You know, you have some supporting Sen. Clinton, some supporting Sen. Obama, even have a few supporting Sen. Edwards. And so, unfortunately, there's not, you know, a unanimous direction that we're going in. JUDY WOODRUFF: But former Democratic Party chairman and South Carolina native Don Fowler, a Clinton supporter, says the divide among ministers in part reflects a generational divide. DON FOWLER, Former Chair, Democratic National Committee: There is something akin to a continuing organization in practically every African-American community based on churches, based on the NAACP to the people who are over 40 or better. Those people know Bill Clinton. They know Hillary from the '90s when he was president. Now, the younger people, they don't have that psychological connection, so that's Senator Obama's field. VOLUNTEER: Who are you going to vote for? JUDY WOODRUFF: At Brookland Baptist, the outreach to young people is officially neutral, mixing appeals to vote with gospel entertainment. But the brochures on the table are all Obama, and the event's lead organizer is working for Obama. Fowler and others who know South Carolina politics acknowledge Obama's strength among blacks, but say Clinton has serious appeal to whites, especially women. We found Theresa Ivey at an Obama rally with her husband, who likes him, but she's still considering Clinton. THERESA IVEY, South Carolina voter: Maybe a woman can make some change. Maybe she can get up there and really do something because the men haven't been able to do that quite so much. JUDY WOODRUFF: But Inez Tenenbaum, one of the highest-ranking women state officials ever, has known Obama since he campaigned for her three years ago in her unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate. She says his appeal crosses racial lines and age lines, and his campaign knows how to organize. INEZ TENENBAUM, former Superintendent of Education, South Carolina: Organizationally, I believe he is head and shoulders above any other campaign. He has 15 offices here. The volunteers have knocked on 32,000 doors. That was how he won in Iowa. You know, Barack Obama organized around beauty shops. They knew where every beauty shop was and barber shop was in South Carolina. JUDY WOODRUFF: At Toliver's Barber Shop in Columbia, customer James McLawhorn says the election is a tough call, but... JAMES MCLAWHORN, South Carolina voter: I think Sen. Obama has been the one that has articulated a message of hope and looking at a different path, because certainly the path that we have been traveling is the path that really has gotten us into the situation we're in now, and that is a bleak economy, a hostile global environment towards Americans, and a pessimistic view of hope. JUDY WOODRUFF: We listened carefully to Mr. Toliver, because he is the long-time barber for the most powerful African-American politician in South Carolina, Congressman and House Majority Whip James Clyburn, who's officially uncommitted. REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), South Carolina, Majority Whip: Because overriding all of this, it's not just what your proposals are for change, but can you win in November? A few months ago, everybody thought only Hillary could win. Now, people are now thinking maybe Obama can win. And that's where the emotions are. Who can win in November? And I think people get beyond gender and race when they think about changing the rest of this country. JUDY WOODRUFF: A couple of miles away, at the Cache Beauty Salon, we did find support for Obama, starting with customer Yvonne White, who had initially considered Hillary Clinton. Now, Senator Clinton would argue, I believe, that she's got the experience. She talks about, on day one, she can get in there. And she said it takes experience to make change. YVONNE WHITE, South Carolina Voter: While I respect Sen. Clinton from New York's opinion, I still have my own opinion. Hillary has not represented me in South Carolina after she left Washington with her husband, for the eight years they were there. That's all I know about Hillary, Bill's wife. JUDY WOODRUFF: Nearby, however, White's friend, Wilma Brown, says she plans to vote for Clinton. WILMA BROWN, South Carolina voter: She's a strong woman. She's a strong woman. We all go through things in life. And, you know, she took some slack years ago, you know, because of what she went through in her home, in her home life. But can we say what we would have done in her situation? JUDY WOODRUFF: Tough choice here that you're making? WILMA BROWN: It's a tough choice. It's a tough choice. But, like I say, Hillary has talked a lot of good things, and she's touched me in a way that none of the others have. |
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Many voters still undecided
JUDY WOODRUFF: While blacks are split, polls show most whites are supporting Hillary Clinton or John Edwards, but not all. In Orangeburg, an impoverished county, farmer and former state agriculture commissioner candidate, Emile deFelice, is actively working for Obama.EMILE DEFELICE, Obama supporter: Really, Sen. Clinton more or less represents a general version of the status quo. She's a known quantity. She's had a lot of time to effect change. And Sen. Obama represents change in that genuine type of way. And I think that people are really sensing that this election may be a watershed for new opportunities for them. And in our rural areas, we are short on hope, and we are short on opportunities. JUDY WOODRUFF: His neighbor, fellow farmer and the Democratic leader in the South Carolina State House, Harry Ott, was still undecided, but argued all three candidates bring strengths to the table. HARRY OTT, Minority Leader, South Carolina State House: Sen. Edwards has struck a chord. I live in rural South Carolina, and I represent rural South Carolina, and I fight for rural South Carolina in Columbia every day I'm up there. So he's certainly got a lot of interest in my book. So I'm torn. JUDY WOODRUFF: Ott believes women will be the majority of the voters on Saturday and will thus decide the outcome. HARRY OTT: And I don't want this to sound bad, but a lot of white males tend to vote Republican in South Carolina. So the woman's vote is more open to looking at candidates and making a choice. JUDY WOODRUFF: We found not just women and African-Americans divided, but married couples. Marc Posner is voting for Obama; his wife, Ann, for Edwards. ANN POSNER, South Carolina voter: I just like his inclination to come out with positions that are very detailed of what he wants to do, and he usually does that before the other candidates. And to me, that's sort of a brave thing to do. Politically, you're taking a risk, and so I respect that. JUDY WOODRUFF: Marc Posner brought up campaign tactics he says the Clintons have used. MARC POSNER, South Carolina voter: Democrats shouldn't do that to Democrats. You know, that's the junk that Republicans have pulled on the Clintons and pulled on John Kerry and Al Gore, and it's time that stops. And we have to unite as a party. JUDY WOODRUFF: With the latest downturn in the economy, all three candidates are talking about what they would do to help create jobs and get relief quickly to those who are hardest up. Figures out last week show South Carolina has the highest unemployment rate in 17 years, the third-highest in the country. All have spoken of the so-called "corridor of shame," a stretch of extreme poverty -- mostly black -- that runs through center of South Carolina. After the economy, voters say they're worried most about health care and education. Still, almost all we spoke with seem to be focused not on the differences on issues, which are seen rightly or wrongly as minimal, but instead on who can win. ANGELA FLOWERS, South Carolina voter: I'm just going to be frank with you. We live in South Carolina. And I'm concerned about the ability of a woman or an African-American to be elected president. JUDY WOODRUFF: State government co-workers dropping by for lunch at Brookland Baptist Church see it differently. Joyce Patterson is for Obama. JOYCE PATTERSON, South Carolina voter: Well, I love my friend, and I disagree. JUDY WOODRUFF: You think he can get elected? JOYCE PATTERSON: I do think he can get elected, for the simple fact that he tends to unite people, and that's what it's all about. America isn't black; America isn't just white; America isn't just female/male. JUDY WOODRUFF: Even after listening to all three candidates at Monday's Martin Luther King Day rally, a number of people told us they are still undecided. How tough a decision is this for you? ELIZABETH HILL, South Carolina Voter: It's pretty tough. Like I said, I keep going back and forth. And we'll see on Saturday what happens and I see which button I press. JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think this vote makes a difference in the primary? ELIZABETH HILL: Absolutely. Absolutely. JUDY WOODRUFF: Could you live with any one of these three? ELIZABETH HILL: Actually, I could. I have a lot of respect for all three of them, and I think it's not a bad choice to have to make. JUDY WOODRUFF: In a state where Republican voter turnout has long outpaced Democrats, it's expected that Democratic turnout this Saturday could set a new record. |
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Clinton, Obama battle still heated
JIM LEHRER: And Judy joins us now here in the studio.Judy, terrific piece. JUDY WOODRUFF: Thank you. JIM LEHRER: As an update here, what's the latest on the scrap between the Clintons -- the two Clintons -- and the Barack Obama campaign? JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it's been hot, Jim, and it has gone on now for days. It lightened up a little bit today, but I think to better understand sort of how it plays out, you have to look at the landscape of the state. This week, the Barack Obama campaign is campaigning in 15 different places around the state of South Carolina. We've got a little map to show people. Four of those places -- and I'll tell you why we're singling out these places -- Greenville, Lexington, Orangeburg and Beaufort, that's just a sampling of the 15. Perhaps explaining why tempers are so hot, guess who came along behind Barack Obama in these four places, either the same day or the day after? JIM LEHRER: Let me guess: Bill Clinton? JUDY WOODRUFF: Former President Bill Clinton. Now, the Clinton campaign would say, "Well, yes, but there were other places that President Clinton went to first." And that's true. And we're just showing these to make this point. What I'm trying to say is that they are in close quarters. Bill Clinton made 14 stops across the state this week, so they're in close proximity to one another. The press is all over not just Obama, but President Clinton, and especially at a time when Hillary Clinton has been out of the state for two-and-a-half days. JIM LEHRER: And the storyline is the hot words that are being exchanged, mostly between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, less so with Hillary Clinton? JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, it started out with some comments about race, Martin Luther King, but it's evolved to the Clintons pointing out in an interview what Barack Obama said about Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama's votes. And it's escalated to the point that I'm just one reporter, and a lot of other reporters like me have been getting dozens and dozens of e-mails every day, both campaigns shooting at each other, and both campaigns saying, "No, we didn't start this; the other campaign did." But there are Democrats, now, Jim, who are worried about this, who are saying, "It's starting to hurt." It could hurt the turnout in South Carolina. JIM LEHRER: You've been talking to voters, as your piece reflected. Are they talking about this stuff? JUDY WOODRUFF: Some of them brought it up on their own. The gentleman you heard in the piece, sitting there with his wife, said that, on his own, he said, "I like the Clintons. I've always admired them. But what Bill" -- he laid it on Bill Clinton. Now, that's one voter's view. And we had another voter who said the same thing. In general, it's not that people are holding it against one campaign or another. They're saying, "This is a tone that we don't need. This is what we hear from the Republicans." Again, this is Democrats talking. But they're saying, "We don't need this as a party." And, indeed, I talked to Don Fowler today, the former state Democratic Party chair, and he says he knows a lot of people who are worried that it could suppress turnout to some extent this Saturday. JIM LEHRER: Is there any indication that it's going to affect the way people are going to vote? Is it actually causing people -- "Oh, this person is doing such a bad thing," or, "I'm believing what the other person is saying about the bad things about the other person," they're actually going to change votes? JUDY WOODRUFF: The only evidence we've seen was a poll or two that we saw today and yesterday that indicates dropping support both for Barack Obama and for Hillary Clinton and a little up-tick for John Edwards. Now, we always have a caveat, Jim, with polls, because after New Hampshire... JIM LEHRER: Absolutely. JUDY WOODRUFF: ... but that's just a little bit of evidence. And we don't know if it will mean anything. But that's been noticed. JIM LEHRER: OK, Judy, thank you very much.
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Democratic Hopefuls Face New Voter Viewpoints in S.C. |
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Shields, Brooks Take on Afghan Plan, 'Populist Uprising' Over Economy
