Sanders brings his upstart campaign to SC

COLUMBIA, SC Bernie Sanders, the self-proclaimed Democratic socialist who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, has drawn huge crowds in Iowa, New Hampshire and on the West Coast.

But will that interest carry over into South Carolina? Palmetto State Democrats are about to find out.

Sanders starts two days of campaigning on Friday in South Carolina, where he is little known and far behind in the polls.

“Bernie Sanders is interesting, and he’s changing the game,” said Elizabeth Rogers, 20, as she fed a downtown meter across from Granger Owings, near the corner of downtown Columbia’s Main and Washington streets.

But Rogers acknowledged knowing little about Sanders.

Three blocks down Main, the response was similar.

“I’ve heard his name, but I would have to look him up before I can give an opinion,” said Shannon Galloway, the 26-year-old owner of Double Trouble Donuts, a doughnut shop on Main Street.

While Sanders might lag in recognition in South Carolina, he had record-breaking success during a West Coast tour earlier this month.

While Sanders might lag in recognition in South Carolina, he had record-breaking success during a West Coast tour earlier this month.

On Aug. 8, 15,000 Sanders supporters packed a Seattle arena, breaking the record for the biggest early-campaign season rally for either party. The next day, in Portland, Ore., Sanders almost doubled that, drawing in more than 28,000 supporters. Ending his West Coast tour, he drew 27,000 supporters in Los Angeles.

Sanders is scheduled to make his first visit Friday to South Carolina since declaring his candidacy. (He was set to visit a Charleston union hall in June but postponed that appearance after the Emanuel AME massacre.)

On Friday, Sanders will travel to Greenville and Columbia. Then, he’ll visit Sumter and Charleston on Saturday.

Who is he?

Sanders is serving his second term in the U.S. Senate as an independent from Vermont, having served eight terms in the U.S. House previously.

Sanders won his first elected office in 1981, narrowly winning election as mayor of Burlington, Vt., as an independent.

Soon after he was elected, Sanders discovered an unused $200,000 in the city’s budget and commissioned the Burlington Community Land Trust, a plan to build affordable, tenant-owned housing.

The trust was the first of its kind in the country and the first to get municipal money. Subsequently, more than 250 land trusts in the United States — from Los Angeles to Minneapolis to Boston to Chapel Hill, N.C. — were modeled after Sanders’ idea.

This year, Sanders has been a hit in the Democrats’ two earliest voting states — Iowa, where he nonetheless trails Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton by 20-plus percentage points, and New Hampshire, where one poll shows him beating Clinton.

But when the race turns from those very white states to the more diverse South — starting with South Carolina’s first-in-the-South primary — Sanders trails badly.

For example, Sanders had raised almost $13,000 in South Carolina at mid-year, compared to almost $240,000 for Clinton. And while the Clinton campaign has been operating in the state for months — opening offices and holding house parties — the Sanders campaign has only two paid staffers.

Polls show Sanders trailing Clinton by roughly 50-plus percentage points in South Carolina, barely outpolling Vice President Joe Biden, who might or might not run.

Can Sanders win over S.C.?

In South Carolina, it seems Sanders is best known for his rumpled clothes and unruly hair — if he’s known at all.

To win the Palmetto State, Sanders must win over black voters, who make up the majority of S.C. Democrats.

“I am not sure if he can catch the attention of black voters,” said Danielle Vinson, a political scientist at Furman University. “Sanders has the economic appeal, but he never articulated on what he could do to help outside of the economic issues.

“Does Sanders have a message that can reach black voters?”

Sanders’ challenge in South Carolina is to deliver his message in a way that resonates with minorities, said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, who introduced Clinton when the former secretary of state made her first campaign stop in Columbia.

“(H)e has not articulated a message beyond economic inequality in a way that has attracted significant support in the African-American community,” said the Orangeburg Democrat, who has not endorsed a candidate.

But other candidates also face the challenge of appealing to minorities as the “Black Lives Matter” movement gains steam, she said, adding Sanders has made some inroads with African Americans.

Winning over black voters will be pivotal if Sanders is to win the Democratic nomination.

In 2008, then U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of nearby Illinois won the Iowa caucus but lost the New Hampshire primary to Clinton. The two then came to South Carolina and Obama crushed Clinton, never looking back as he won the Democratic nomination and two terms as president.

This year, Clinton leads in Iowa, which touches her birth state of Illinois, but could lose notoriously contrarian New Hampshire, which borders on Sanders’ Vermont. That could set up South Carolina again to decide the Democratic nomination.

If not Sanders, who?

The good news for Sanders is that it is six months before South Carolinians vote, and some are undecided.

“If I had to vote now, I wouldn’t know who to choose,” said Shontica Harris, a 29-year-old African American.

Thus far, Harris knows only who won’t get her vote — Republican Donald Trump, the real estate magnate and reality-TV personality turned politician who has received attention recently for his comments about immigrants, former GOP nominee John McCain and women.

“No, Trump,” said Harris, a nurse at Palmetto Richland. “Trump is not taking anything seriously, and he’s untrustworthy.”

But while some S.C. voters still are undecided, others already have picked a candidate.

“I already know who I want to win,” said Antwan Marshall, a 30-year-old African American. “I’ve got a feeling about Hillary Clinton. We’ve seen what men can do.

“Why not give the other side a chance?”

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/politics-columns-blogs/the-buzz/article31686071.html#storylink=cpy

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