Posted by Jed Lewison on Sat Jan 26, 2008 at 5:11 PM Pacific

Breaking News: Al Sharpton didn't win South Carolina in 2004

So Bill Clinton is making the rounds, trying to pidgeonhole Barack Obama, arguing that Jesse Jackson won the Democratic primary in South Carolina twice, in 1984 and 1988.

The implication, of course, is that Obama is nothing more than the candidate of black voters, who only vote for blacks.

It's an idiotic argument.

Al Sharpton was slaughtered in 2004 by both John Edwards and John Kerry, not just by white voters, but also by black voters.

From early exit poll returns, it looks like Obama got about a quarter of white votes, within shouting distance of Hillary Clinton.

Obama did particularly well with young whites.

I'm not thrilled with Obama as a candidate, but as far as his electability goes, his race -- if anything -- is a small net positive.

Bill Clinton meanwhile, increasingly overshadows Hillary.

If Obama's victory tonight had been close, I'm not sure how much momentum he'd have gotten. With his huge victory, I suspect he'll catch on fire, catching up to Hillary, and at least splitting Super Tuesday.

If they do split Super Tuesday, and if Edwards can continue to collect delegates, a brokered convention is looking more and more likely.

Wouldn't that be fun?

Breaking News: Al Sharpton didn't win South Carolina in 2004

So Bill Clinton is making the rounds, trying to pidgeonhole Barack Obama, arguing that Jesse Jackson won the Democratic primary in South Carolina twice, in 1984 and 1988.

The implication, of course, is that Obama is nothing more than the candidate of black voters, who only vote for blacks.

It's an idiotic argument.

Al Sharpton was slaughtered in 2004 by both John Edwards and John Kerry, not just by white voters, but also by black voters.

From early exit poll returns, it looks like Obama got about a quarter of white votes, within shouting distance of Hillary Clinton.

Obama did particularly well with young whites.

I'm not thrilled with Obama as a candidate, but as far as his electability goes, his race -- if anything -- is a small net positive.

Bill Clinton meanwhile, increasingly overshadows Hillary.

If Obama's victory tonight had been close, I'm not sure how much momentum he'd have gotten. With his huge victory, I suspect he'll catch on fire, catching up to Hillary, and at least splitting Super Tuesday.

If they do split Super Tuesday, and if Edwards can continue to collect delegates, a brokered convention is looking more and more likely.

Wouldn't that be fun?

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