by Mike Dorning
COLUMBIA, S.C. --Oprah Winfrey came to South Carolina today with a message tailored to the state's considerable African-American community, asking them to cast aside doubt and support the black man she assured them could—and should— be elected president.
On the second day of Barack Obama's and Winfrey's tour of early voting states, the two turned out the biggest crowd yet of the election campaign, an exuberant and overwhelmingly African-American audience that filled about a third of a football stadium and organizers said exceeded 29,000.
The scale of the event rivaled the largest campaign rallies in recent history. Obama drew energy from the crowd, stretching out his arm and holding the microphone to the audience to capture its roar. At times, the metal bleachers behind him rumbled under stomping feet.
While mostly avoiding explicit racial references, Winfrey clearly placed Obama's campaign in the long struggle of African-Americans for equality, drawing from Martin Luther King's most famous civil rights speech. "Dr. King dreamed a dream. But we don't have to just dream the dream anymore," Winfrey said. "We get to vote that dream into reality."
The contest for the political loyalties of African-Americans will be crucial in the South Carolina primary, a key early vote in a state where blacks made up about half of the electorate in the last Democratic presidential primary.
The state's African-American political establishment has not rushed to embrace Obama, with many black leaders either backing rival Hillary Clinton or keeping their options open as they express doubts about the possibility of electing a black to the nation's highest office.
Days before Obama's first visit as a presidential candidate in February, state Sen. Robert Ford, a longtime black political figure with a long civil rights record, warned that an African-American at the top might drag down the rest of the Democratic ticket.
While polls early in the year showed Obama trailing both Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards in South Carolina, a McClatchy-MSNBC poll released Sunday put him at a statistical tie for the lead with Clinton. It gave the New York senator 28 percent and Obama 25 percent support among likely Democratic primary voters.
A key factor has been a swing in support for Obama among the state's African-Americans, whom the poll showed support the Illinois senator 37 to 21 percent over Clinton.
Today, Winfrey and Obama delivered messages rich with references to faith, historical moment and the possibilities ahead, in effect urging the crowd to set aside doubts.
"Disappointment doesn't have to be normal anymore," said Winfrey. "Think about where you'd be in your life if you'd waited when people told you to," Winfrey said later. "I wouldn't be where I am if I'd waited on the people who told me it can't be."
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Comments
Ahhhh....The Swamp!
'A historic turnout?' Will this go down in history?
Let's talk [real] history....
President Bush freed 50 MILLION MUSLIMS from the Taliban and Saddam "Hussein" in weeks...now that's Historic!
Not Oprah and Obama filling 29,000 seats in a 80,000 seat football stadium.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | December 9, 2007 9:50 PM
Paulo,
You and RNC Bruce need a refresher course in the use of quotation marks and capitalization.
And by the way - is a dead Muslim the same as a freed Muslim?
If it is, Iraq is one of the freeist countries in the last 50 years.
Posted by: Doug Zook | December 10, 2007 7:06 AM
Not so fast, Paulo. Look again at what your Bush has done to the World and the standing of the U.S.
At some point it will be possible to get past the madness of race in America. I believe that an Obama presidency, for all of the myriad ordeals he would face, would be a quantum leap over the hump, and we could realistically reach a point when many more Americans place a higher premium on the positive qualities in people and are indifferent to the color of their skin or their ethnicity. Just think of the example that Senator Obama is setting, right now, for all of the young people in this country, Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American. Look at what Jackie Robinson did in breaking the color bar in Major League baseball. Everybody looked up to him, not because he was Black, but because he was a phenomenal player and person, and he revolutionized the game. For me it is not hard to feel that a President Barack Obama will be the same thing, but on a much grander scale, considering that Obama would be the only Black person or person of color to head a predominantly White country in the World. This would show the rest of the World that America is truly a nation which cherishes diversity among people, and America could once again be proud of our president. Pride in the president been wanting for almost a generation.
South Carolina is probably more of a political test for politicians than either Iowa or New Hampshire. It's residents are more diverse in every possible way. It suffers in many ways from the broken promises made by politicians for generations. It is very close to breaking the shackles of it's past injustices, as many of the old bowel hardened separatists transition out, and a new generation of tolerant, enlightened, and forward thinking people increase their numbers.
In her introductory remarks, Oprah makes a sharp distinction between her duty as TV host and the role that she has taken upon herself as political activist to support someone who she passionately believes can help this country. There are a growing number of people who believe this, too, after examining the ideas that the Senator has espoused and the things that he has done in his life.
He is not bent over with the broken back and scars of struggle, which some advocate that he should have before even being considered for the presidency. He has acknowledged, however, that he has arrived at this juncture only because of those who have borne heavy burdens and bear many scars of years of toil for justice and equality. Whether it is a frigid Iowa and New Hampshire or a balmy Sunday afternoon in South Carolina, I think Obama's message will gain fertile ground in the imagination of many people, and they will go to the polls and vote for him.
Posted by: GW | December 10, 2007 7:16 AM
Oprah Is for Obama so what?
Barrack Hussein Obama is not going to be President of the United States of America.
He ha spent 12 years in elective office 1`0 in the State Senate and only 2 in the U.S. Senate.
In additon his 17 year friendship with indicted Tony Rezko the McMansion and much more dirt to be parrade across America after the nomination.The Trib and Sun Times archives are full of his behind the scenes deals with Daniel Unruh his law partner who lined up big public housing deals for Rezko and others along with his friendship with the Mahajans and some in the Outfit.
The guy has too much baggage and he is the invention of Dickie Durbin need I say more about Illinois corruption.Jerry White, Springfield, IL
Posted by: Jerry White | December 10, 2007 9:46 AM
need I say more about Illinois corruption.Jerry White, Springfield, IL
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No whitey, you've said too much already. Personally, I'd like to see you say less, A LOT LESS, for about the next ten years.
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Anyways, I just wanted to post to say I HATE it when people use the traditional British usage of AN before HISTORIC. We don't talk that way here. Don't spell it that way. It's A HISTORIC post!
Posted by: rncbs | December 11, 2007 12:32 AM