Barack Obama Secures Huge Win in South Carolina
Further damaging his wife’s campaign, Bill Clinton later angered and stunned black voters by his comment on Jesse Jackson having won in South Carolina but later losing the election. "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here." Why he felt it necessary to single out Jesse Jackson leaves quite a negative impression of Mr. Clinton’s hidden true thoughts.
In a telephone interview, Sharon Toomer, founder and managing editor of BlackandBrownNews.com, said Clinton's tone toward Obama "was demeaning.” She went on to say, "He was calling him a boy, a kid, living in a dream land. I don't think he deserves the title of being a friend or being the first black president."
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, one of the most powerful African-Americans in Congress, said it was time for Bill Clinton to watch his words. Clyburn also said he was disappointed with comments from Hillary Clinton that many took to suggest President Lyndon Johnson had more to do with passing the Civil Rights Act than Martin Luther King Jr.
Nearly 350,000 Democrats have cast early votes in Florida, and party officials predicted that about 400,000 will have voted by Primary Election Day. Only 97,000 Democrats voted early in the 2004 presidential primary. There are 4.14 million Democrats registered to vote in Florida’s primary on Tuesday, January 29.
Florida results could help set the stage for Super Tuesday on February 5. The number of Democrats who have voted in Florida has already exceeded the turnout in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada combined. The Democratic National Committee's Rules Committee stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates as punishment for moving up their presidential primaries. Ultimately, state Democrats hope the Democratic nominee, who controls what happens at the convention, will make sure Florida's delegates count. The nominee can't afford to antagonize key activists in a swing state with 27 electoral votes.
Lisa KARPOVA
PRAVDA.Ru
USA/CANADA
