Biden easily wins South Carolina primary, first date on Democratic election calendar | USA election

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, this Saturday easily won the Democratic primary in South Carolina, a state with important African-American voters that allowed him to save his then shaky candidacy for the White House in 2020. The incumbent defeated two top-ranked co-religionists on the ballot: Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota and self-help book author Marianne Williamson.

“In 2020, it was the voters of South Carolina who proved the experts wrong, breathed new life into our campaign and put us on the path to winning the presidency,” the candidate said in a statement. “Now, in 2024, the people of South Carolina have spoken again, and I have no doubt that you have put us on the path to winning the presidency again, and losing to Donald Trump again. . . .”

His personal claim that South Carolina is the first date of the party’s primary, overwhelmingly white, is worth all the effort he has presented to the Democratic Party, citing the greater racial diversity of the state’s population compared to the more traditional states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The National Committee, the first of which changed the election calendar, moved the race from fourth to first in that state. South Carolina is a red state, but 26% of its residents are black. In the 2020 general election, black voters represented 11% of the national electorate, and 9 in 10 of them supported Biden.

Today marks the start of the democratic campaign towards the November 5 elections. Biden, however, has won important victories such as New Hampshire, where, despite not having his name on the ballot, he received 64% of the vote, as he reminded reporters at the Delaware airfield this Saturday that he contested the election. Traveled to Los Angeles and Las Vegas to attend campaign events.

African-American voters are key to his chances against Republican Donald Trump in November, who is leading in many polls. But pessimism has never been Biden’s characteristic, and this Saturday he once again riled his people with enthusiasm, once again describing the presidential election as a battle for the survival of democracy. Biden has attacked the behavior of Trump, who he said has continued to degrade himself. “What we are running against is not for nothing. “It goes against everything,” he said in Delaware, hours before South Carolina’s results were known.

Biden has expressed his belief that as Americans begin to focus on the upcoming elections, the contrast between him and Trump will help his candidacy. “People are starting to focus,” he said, citing a recent Quinnipiac University poll showing him six points ahead of Trump, though other polls give the Republican a clear advantage. Biden also cited two Pennsylvania polls that give him an advantage in that state.

The optimism of Biden, whose rallies have almost without exception been disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who berate him for his support for Israel — echoed this Saturday in Bel Air, where six vehicles with large Palestinian flags greeted his delegation’s passing — , it is largely due to the victory in New Hampshire. “By the way, we weren’t on the ballot in New Hampshire. We could not preach there. But guess what: we got 64%,” he recalled with satisfaction to reporters.

“Friends, we have much at stake. We have a great responsibility,” he said of the political standoff with Trump, a Republican, about his election and existence. “This is not just a campaign. This is one more mission. We cannot lose for the good of the country. And I say this from the bottom of my heart. “It’s not about me, it’s beyond me.”

Despite the candidate’s optimism and the positive surveys he uses, polls published this Friday by CNN confirm a trend reported in recent months: a minimal but steady advantage for Trump, with 49% support, over Biden, with 45%. Although an improving economy may play in the Democrat’s favor, the truth is that he has not been able to capitalize on the recovery in approval percentages. His immigration and foreign policy show the worst prospects, with the former having the lowest approval rate (only 30%). His stance on the war between Israel and Hamas, which threatens to lose him many votes in states like Michigan, among young Democratic voters and even among African-American voters, is based on the fact that only 37% believe that the United States, according to a CNN survey. is doing the right thing, compared to 33% who believe it is going too far in its support for Israel.

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