In South Carolina, perhaps age, not race, divides camps
Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, and former Vice President Joe Biden, right, participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate at the Gaillard Center on Tuesday in Charleston, S.C., co-hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute. Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky
NORTH CHARLESTON, South Carolina — The old guard of South Carolina’s black Democratic base flexed its muscles Wednesday for Joe Biden. The question the Palmetto State will answer over the next few days is whether there is another Democratic core here with the power to flex back, and whether voters are still divided by race, or are increasingly sorting by age.
The parking lot of the cavernous Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in North Charleston was crammed well before the 7:30 a.m. event began. Attendees, almost all black, mostly over age 60, crowded first toward tables and then toward the buffet line.
The pre-meal invocation, from Rabbi Stephanie Alexander, was uniquely establishment Charleston: Alexander’s pulpit is Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, a temple whose roots as a congregation reach back to 1749.
But the event, the National Action Network’s South Carolina Ministers' Breakfast, was about the politics of the moment. The guest of honor was Rep. Jim Clyburn, the dais was anchored by NAN leader the Rev. Al Sharpton and the draw was Biden. Every Democratic candidate except former Mayor Mike Bloomberg spoke, but Biden went first, following Clyburn’s speech with a brief talk heavy on praise for Clyburn, the event’s main honoree, and almost free of electioneering.
This was not a crowd Biden needed to woo.
When the former vice president was done, he and Clyburn immediately disappeared. Minutes later, as former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke onstage, Clyburn gave Biden his much-coveted and long-awaited endorsement via Twitter.
Does such an endorsement matter these days? "I think it sends a strong message,” said the Rev. Lawrence Brattion, 54, a Bronx native who came to North Charleston 26 years ago and ministers to Bibleway Baptist Church. “We trust Jim Clyburn and when he throws his hat in the ring to vouch for someone, it means a lot.”
But asked whether there is another, younger Democratic constituency to which a 79-year-old congressman’s nod might not mean much, Bratton, who has three grown sons, said: “That’s a really good question … I don’t know the answer.”
Biden’s speech at the breakfast got a warm response for his praise of Clyburn, but Sen. Bernie Sanders, speaking last, also received applause and “amens” for promises to fight for racial justice, health care and educational equity.
The other four candidates who spoke were received with polite respect but little more.
The Democratic primary race in South Carolina is now a story about Biden and Sanders. Billionaire businessman Tom Steyer likely will be forgotten after Saturday’s primary. And Bloomberg has only a tiny part to play in this chapter.
And the battle between Biden and Sanders may be nearly colorblind here.
It seems as if age, not race, is what divides the camps, with Biden drawing heavy support from older voters of every race and creed, and Sanders doing the same with younger ones of all hues.
Biden has the edge, but needs more than just a slim win to make headway against Sanders nationally and raise campaign money. And both men have a feverish campaign schedule in South Carolina for the rest of the week, though Sanders also will fly to other states.
The question is whether Sanders can inspire a young constituency to match Biden’s older one, and get them to vote, because Biden definitely can.
Older voters vote. Until younger voters can match that participation, in South Carolina and nationally, they’re going to find, like Biden’s competitors did Wednesday, that no one is hurrying to offer them room on the dais, or a seat at the table.
Lane Filler is a member of Newsday's editorial board.
Lane Filler is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
