Will Barack Obama Be Our Next President? S. Carolina Victory.

It appears from the exit polls in South Carolina that Barack Obama is beating his two other contenders by big odds. The fact that African American votes comprise more than 50% of the Democratic Party in S. Carolina is the main reason he is the projected winner. Obama has according to CNN and MSNBC exit numbers an estimated 80% of the African American vote plus very large numbers of young people of all races. Obama seems to have energized significant numbers under the age of 25 and although he doesn't have necessarily the majority of the Democratic women's vote in S. Carolina, he has enough of the women's vote to hurt Hillary's chances if these numbers hold in other State Democratic Primary elections. In these exit polls, Hillary is not getting enough white male voters to make a difference down the road, that is, if these numbers hold in other States which they may not. For instance, in my State California,my hunch is more white males may be in Hillary's camp compared to the exit polls in S. Carolina.

It is clear that Obama is on a roll and will be given a big boost from the S. Carolina victory. Hillary has a lot of work to do to keep up with the Obama train that has picked up tremendous steam from this projected victory. The general media is definitely running away with these projected results even before anything concrete has happened pointing fingers at Bill Clinton who tried to stem the tide of popularity sweeping S. Carolina for Obama implying the projected win was in part a result of Bill's negative tactics toward Obama. I think the media is being too hard on Bill blaming him for the kind of backlash that may not be a backlash at all but simply a wake up call when African Americans realized Obama could win and they themselves could make the difference.

It is interesting to note the same kind of thing happened to Hillary when the public thought she was going to loss big as a result of sexist attitudes and perceived unfair treatment by the media. I predict we will experience more of this back and forth kind of reaction by the public. I know I am confused. Do I want a woman or a man of color? I feel Hillary is more capable and on target more often but I also acknowledge something special is happening around the Obama candidacy that Hillary may not be able to transcend.

Can a public mass movement put an Obama in office? I know it might work for the primaries but not sure if it will work for the national campaign when a Republican i.e. McCain is thrown into the mix. I think it might in the end be a toss up between Hillary and Barack until the very end of the primary race. By then, we can only hope the two are not so bloodied that the Republicans can gain by the squabbles of the Democrats. I think the country is ready for a Democrat again as everyone is not only weary of Bush but also may realize how out of touch the Republicans are with the general public. The country will elect a Democrat and as it looks now it could be Mr. Barack Obama.