{"id":103128,"date":"2018-09-02T14:28:05","date_gmt":"2018-09-02T18:28:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=103128"},"modified":"2018-09-02T14:29:13","modified_gmt":"2018-09-02T18:29:13","slug":"south-carolina-ground-zero-for-the-democratic-nomination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=103128","title":{"rendered":"SOUTH CAROLINA: Ground zero for the Democratic nomination"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sen. Kamala Harris is among potential 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls expected to visit South Carolina before this year\u2019s midterms. | Matt Slocum\/AP Photo<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\u2018Whoever wins South Carolina will be the Democratic nominee\u2019<\/h1>\n

Presidential prospects rethink primary election strategy for 2020.<\/h3>\n

By DAVID SIDERS
\nPolitico.com<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the early state that delivered a decisive victory to Barack Obama in 2008. In 2016, it saved Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n

In the wake of South Carolina\u2019s pivotal role in the past two competitive Democratic presidential contests, top Democrats are beginning to rethink their traditional approach to primary season, and focus their energy on the first Southern state to vote.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a tacit acknowledgment of the essential role African American voters play within the Democratic Party as much as it is a nod to recent primary election results. With the racially diverse Obama coalition increasingly viewed as the key to the party\u2019s future, the two early states that have historically overshadowed South Carolina \u2014 Iowa and New Hampshire \u2014 are suddenly looking outmoded to many Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary process in selecting a candidate will now not be determined by the Iowas and New Hampshires,\u201d said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who ran for president in 2008. \u201cIt will be a long, drawn out affair, and the first big test will be South Carolina to see who is strongest among the party\u2019s base, the African American base of the Democratic Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

The floodgates are poised to open within weeks. In early jockeying ahead of the 2020 primary, Joe Biden, Deval Patrick and Eric Holder are all expected to travel to South Carolina before November\u2019s midterm elections. Kamala Harris is likely to visit. Eric Garcetti is scheduled to return to the state in late September, and Terry McAuliffe is hosting a fundraiser in Washington for James Smith, South Carolina\u2019s Democratic gubernatorial nominee.<\/p>\n

Former Vice President Joe Biden has lent his endorsement not only to Smith, but also to Dick Harpootlian, a former state Democratic Party chairman running for a state Senate seat.<\/p>\n

In part, the candidates\u2019 early focus on South Carolina reflects the path Obama and Clinton took to the Democratic nomination. The state helped to cement their credentials with black voters, a crucial demographic both in South Carolina and in the states whose elections will quickly follow.<\/p>\n