Obama has beaten Clinton by a bigger than expected margin in South Carolina 55 percent to 27 percent. South Carolina native John Edwards finished third with 18 percent. At least Clinton came second.
As expected the South Carolina balloting splintered along racial lines, with 78 percent of Obama's support from black voters and 20 percent from whites, a CNN exit poll found.For days, Clinton's aides have tried to spin Obama's impending victory as a nonevent, arguing that he enjoyed an insurmountable edge among blacks, who made up half of the Democratic electorate here. Nonetheless, Clinton led in polls here for much of last year.About a third of Clinton's voters yesterday were black.
Some in the Clinton camp believe she won by losing in SC, saying Obama was forced to abandon his multiracial, multiethic call for change that catapulted him to victory in Iowa in favor of a conventional campaign targeting a racial voting bloc.
