Hillary Clinton Aims for Decisive Win in South Carolina

In the four days before the South Carolina Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton visited a historically black university, appeared on stage with a grammy-nominated R&B artist, held a meeting with the mothers of African-Americans who have been , and had surrogates like Cory Booker and Jim Clyburn out to campaign for her. She was in South Carolina every day since Tuesday, according to her public schedule, and had at least 10 events in the state since Tuesday.

During the same period, Bernie Sanders had just three.

The two Democrats’ schedules reflect their vastly different hopes in the state’s Democratic primary on Saturday. Clinton is campaigning for a landslide victory in South Carolina, while Sanders is already looking ahead to Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois and beyond. The calculus for the Vermont senator in South Carolina is daunting. Polls show him an average of about 25 points behind in the state, and he has not shown an ability to break through with the bulk of black voters there. For Clinton, South Carolina could be a reaffirmation of her ability to attract a key segment of Democratic voters: Black voters accounted for 55% of the electorate when she lost the South Carolina primary to Barack Obama in 2008.

Clinton is doing what she can to win decisively. Thursday night found the former Secretary of State on a stage in Charleston, wearing an eggplant-colored pantsuit and dancing to the grammy-nominated R&B singer Charlie Wilson in front of a mostly-black crowd. “That voice. That energy. That intensity,” Clinton said of her musical accompanist. On Friday, she stopped at a café and ran into a bridegroom and customer with his friends and ended up in a photo of the men, who knelt at her feet, as if at a wedding. “I love having men at my feet,” Clinton said.

Sanders’ aides believe his path to the nomination rests on Super Tuesday and afterward, where he hopes to rebuild momentum after a loss in Nevada and likely defeat in South Carolina. His aides believe he has a good chance to win at least five states—Vermont, Massachusetts, Colorado, Oklahoma and Minnesota—and earn significant number of delegates in the rest of the 11 states voting on March 1. The 74-year-old democratic socialist has far exceeded expectations in the race so far.

But a strong victory for Clinton in South Carolina will vault her through the Super Tuesday southern states with large black populations, like Alabama, Texas and Georgia, and make her difficult to catch in the coming weeks. A series of decisive wins could dampen her opponents’ online fundraising operation if his supporters perceive him losing steam. Federal Election Commission records show that while he is bringing in a record amount in small-dollar donations, he is burning through cash by spending heavily on advertising and building out his campaign infrastructure: He ended January with $14.7 million, less than half Clinton’s war chest.

Clinton’s outreach to black voters has been clear. In the last couple of days she has spoke often about systemic racism and the need to confront it. At a town hall meeting hosted by CNN in South Carolina on Tuesday, she said, “We have serious challenges and I think its important for people, and particularly white people, to be honest about this and our experiences may not equip us to understand what our fellow African-American citizens go through every single day.” On Facebook during a question-and-answer session, Clinton said, “White Americans need to do a better job of listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers that you face every day.”

Read more: How Sanders’ Vermont Career Could Hurt Him Nationally

Sanders’ surrogates have been around the state, too. Killer Mike, the rapper who sparked controversy earlier this month by saying a uterus doesn’t qualify one to be President, embarked on a barber shop tour, and Jane Sanders, the candidate’s wife, held an event on Tuesday. Sanders drew a crowd of more than 5,000 in Greenville on Sunday.

But the Vermont senator has spent the bulk of the week outside the state: in Michigan, where aides think he has an opportunity for a strong showing on March 8, as well as Minnesota, Oklahoma, Colorado, all states where Sanders’ aides believe he can win. He visited Flint, Mich. on Thursday and spoke emotionally about the water crisis in the city, several weeks after Clinton’s first stop there. He also targeted Clinton sharply in a speech in Chicago, listing a litany of differences and criticizing her on her Wall Street speeches.

Saturday will tell how successful Clinton’s efforts in South Carolina have been. By the time the results come in, Sanders will already be in Minnesota.

[Time.com]