Sen. Hillary Clinton's surprising victory in the New Hampshire primary sets the stage for a showdown with Sen. Barack Obama in the Jan. 26 South Carolina primary.
In stark contrast to the virtually all-white electorate in Iowa and New Hampshire, African Americans will make up 50 percent of primary voters in South Carolina. The "black primary" will unfold in the state that was the first to secede from the Union, the site of the first battle in the Civil War, and where the Confederate flag still flies on the Statehouse grounds.
While black men got the right to vote before black women, sisters will determine whether Clinton or Obama leaves the Palmetto State with a pep in their step as they march on to Super Duper Tuesday.
In his concession speech last night, Obama said:
But the reason our campaign has always been different, the reason we began this improbable journey almost a year ago is because it's not just about what I will do as president. It is also about what you, the people who love this country, the citizens of the United States of America, can do to change it.
That's what this election is all about.
That's why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers, and the volunteers, and the staff who believed in this journey and rallied so many others to join the cause.
We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
Yes we can.
While I remain neutral about Obama, I fully embrace his message of change. I left Washington nearly eight years ago because I had a bellyful of the bitter partisanship, gridlock and the revolving door of lobbyists feeding at the public trough (and here).
The true agents of change are the new voters that Obama has inspired, energized and mobilized. If this new generation of activists stays engaged and understands that change is a process not a campaign event, they can "take this country in a fundamentally new direction."
I don't believe in "fairy tales," but I have hope that a new majority can indeed bring about change.
