Hillary Clinton in a file photo. Clinton did not attend the Democratic Convention in South Carolina but attendees were abuzz with her prospects. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
COLUMBIA — South Carolina Democrats have a message for their standard bearer and early primary favorite Hillary Clinton: we want some love.
Among the chattering classes, there are few who would say the behemoth that is the Clinton operation faces much of a real challenge so far. Lesser-known potential challengers such as former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley or Vermont independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, among others, are still on the fence about running and face fundraising and other stiff challenges.
As Democrats gathered for their annual convention Saturday — without Clinton herself but with several other potential candidates and surrogates — there was much to lament. The party, like others around the South, received a shellacking in last year’s mid-term election and face dwindling numbers in the Statehouse. But the state’s first-in-the-South primary is a bright spot that puts the state’s relatively few devoted Democrats in a position to potentially play king-maker for the highest office in the land.
Among at least some delegates who gathered, Clinton was seen as an inevitable if flawed candidate.
Rudy Williams, a convention attendee who was wearing a seer sucker suit and speaking loudly over the din of music at Friday night’s fish fry hosted by Rep. Jim Clyburn, said he believes Clinton can beat any Republican. But he said there are drawbacks.
“There’s always drama, drama, drama with the Clintons,” Williams said. “All the baggage, but it is what it is. She’ll get the votes.”
Other potential candidates hope, of course, that could mean an opening for them. O’Malley, perhaps the best known of the potential candidates who has long flirted with a run, delivered a speech that hit on several progressive cornerstones, including sustained funding for education, the minimum wage and improving childhood hunger. He also pointed to “far too many tragic videos” as evidence of the policing problems that needs to be addressed in N. Charleston and elsewhere.
O’Malley, in his second visit to South Carolina, didn’t mention his primary opponents by name but hit Republicans for what he said was extreme positions on climate change and other issues. “Give them a few more weeks and they’ll be shunning Copernicus,” O’Malley said.
O’Malley toured last year with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vincent Sheheen. “People here want the same thing we all want,” O’Malley told reporters after his speech. “When we work hard we want to be able to get ahead. There’s this deep pessimism as people look over the horizon and wonder what its going ot be like if wages don’t go down. Thats very acute here in South Carolina. They know they’re working harder…other things are going up but not their paycheck.”
Asked about differences with Clinton, O’Malley noted that she wasn’t at the convention. “I guess it was different in every way,” he said.
A senior campaign official, according to remarks provided by the campaign, said in a conference call with reporters on Friday that Clinton was ready for the tough slog. “We understand one thing — we have to earn the support of everyday South Carolinians. That is the goal. That is the job. We’re going to fight hard for every single vote and take nothing for grant,” the official said.
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