Heh, I can't be trusted around polls anymore, so I won't try to blognosticate about what the South Carolina primary actually means . . . but the only poll that really matters shows that Obama won bigtime in SC.
Bill Clinton wasted no time whatsoever in trying to 'ghettoize' Obama (Mickey Kaus' term, not mine) by pointing out that Jesse Jackson won South Carolina too in 1984 and 1988. I predict (wince) that this will backfire. Obama, as others have pointed out, is not a black candidate, he is a candidate who happens to be black. That makes all the difference in the world. Obama has avoided the trap of embracing the Jacksons and Sharptons in this campaign, and that has been key to his success, and a source of frustration to the Clintons who apparently are still placing all their chips on white racism to win.
I have come to really like Obama. Oh, I wouldn't trust him with the keys to the White House, and yes I'd vote for John McCain before I'd vote for an inexperienced socialist for president. But he has stood up to the Clinton Deceit Machine better than expected, hasn't lost his cool, and is becoming a better campaigner than Bill Clinton. That might be faint praise these days actually, and Bill's unhingedness did in fact contribute to Hillary's undoing in SC I believe, but when you are going up against the Clintons, you are still going up against the best.
One reason is because he has that sincerity thing going for him that Hillary hasn't learned how to fake yet.
Update: This post and first comment at Matthew Yglesias' place made me laugh out loud:
After all this time being told by the Clinton campaign that Barack Obama is some kind of closet Reagan-worshipping right-winger, it's a bit confusing to be told that he's the second coming of Jesse Jackson, too.Permalink :: Comments (28) ::
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That was the Unity ticket in 1980, Reagan/Jackson. Don't you remember?
P.S. Or is Obama just like JFK? I wish these Dems would make up their minds.
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