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Obama hopes to rekindle momentum in S. Carolina

BY MARTIN C. EVANS | martin.evans@newsday.com

10:56 PM EST, January 9, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Stung by a frustratingly narrow loss in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Barack Obama arrives in South Carolina today with a key mission: to rekindle the momentum that brought him to within a whisker of becoming the first African-American to emerge as the front-runner after the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

His first-place showing in the Iowa caucuses one week ago excited voters here in South Carolina, a state where African-American voters made up 49 percent of the turnout in Democratic primaries four years ago.

Supporters here say his narrow loss to Hillary Rodham Clinton in New Hampshire, a state where blacks make up less than 2 percent of the population, has raised their hopes that he can regain momentum when South Carolina voters go to the polls Jan. 26.

Recent polling here indicates that Obama, who trailed Clinton by double-digits as recently as early last month, now leads her in South Carolina.

In New Jersey yesterday, Obama, puffy-eyed from days of little sleep and virtually nonstop campaigning, greeted 4,500 people at a rally at St. Peters College.

"My voice is a little hoarse, my eyes are a little weary. My back is a little sore. But my spirit is still strong," Obama said, acknowledging his second-place finish in New Hampshire, while highlighting the record turnout.

"My vote came out a little short, but the turnout was enormous," he said.

Obama, who had scheduled fundraisers in Boston and Manhattan yesterday, is expected to hold a rally at the College of South Carolina in Charleston this morning, then fly to Nevada to kick off campaigning for the Jan. 19 Nevada caucuses.

Joe Erwin, the South Carolina Democratic Party chairman, said the win in Iowa invigorated Obama supporters here.

Now, he said, many South Carolinians see Obama's narrow defeat in New Hampshire as further indication that his broad appeal has allowed him to stage a viable candidacy.

"I think it greatly aided his cause and it showed voters in this state by proving he was electable," said Erwin. "People I talked to -- black, white, male, female, young, old -- said they liked him, but they didn't think he could win. When he won Iowa, it was a game-changer for his campaign in this state."

But even Obama's supporters say the state's convoluted politics make taking South Carolina voters for granted a perilous exercise for a northern liberal and relative political newcomer like Obama.

The influence of Christian fundamentalism tugs at the social conservatism of many black individuals here. Long-standing social traditions have made it difficult for black candidates here to appeal to white voters on an equal footing. And the Clinton family remains enormously popular among black South Carolinians, who saw former President Bill Clinton as sympathetic to the plight of the downtrodden.

The state's most prominent black politician, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, so far has refrained from endorsing any of the Democratic presidential hopefuls, a discretion that would appear to benefit Clinton most.

In Jersey City, more than 4,500 people waited outside hoping to be one of the roughly 3,000 people allowed in to St. Peter's modest gymnasium to hear Obama speak.

"Even when we didn't quite win, people were chanting 'yes we can,' " he said of the New Hampshire results.

Pervaiz Shallwani contributed to this story.