Sen. John Edwards Win S.C. Primary, Moves On With Campaign

Sen. John Edwards says Thursday's victory in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary has exceeded his expectations.

The North Carolina senator told a crowd of supporters in Columbia that he would be a candidate for all Americans.

"Tonight, you said that protecting America means protecting American jobs. That building one America means providing opportunities to all our children, no matter where they live, no matter who their family is, no matter the color of their skin. Tonight you said the politics of lifting people up beats the politics of tearing people down," Edwards said.

Sen. John Kerry's supporters celebrated his second-place finish in a state he visited far less frequently than Edwards.

"Most people think he is the presumptive nominee of this party. And we would have hated for him to come out of S.C. limping and it would have marginalized us in the process. So to finish a strong second here is exactly what we hoped for," Rep. Jim Clyburn said.

State Democrats said they saw the primary as a victory for all Democrats.

"The good news for us and the bad news for Republicans is we've had a huge number of independent voters turn out that have never voted in a Democratic primary before. We know that's good news for us and bad news for them, because Ed Gillespie, the national Republican chairman, is in town today. George W. Bush is coming here day after tomorrow. Obviously, if this is a state they're claiming to be safe in, why are they putting so much effort into being here right after our primary? We say in the South, 'A hit dog howls'. Well, they're out there howling," former state Democratic Party chairman Dick Hartpootlian said.

State Republicans said regardless of Tuesday's primary results, South Carolina is Republican terretory.

"The bottom line is, [the Democrats] are leaving South Carolina and they won't be back and we won't see them again. South Carolina is Bush country. It's been Bush country for the last four years. It's Bush country today, and it'll be Bush country for the next four years," Rep. David Wilkins said.

"Even though they are giving up on it, we are not taking [the South] for granted. We're going to put a lot of time, energy and resources into South Carolina and the other southern states for President Bush in November," national Republican Party chairman Ed Gillespee told WYFF News 4.

Edwards said he would be flying to Tennesee and Virginia in the coming days. Both states have primaries next Tuesday.

Rev. Al Sharpton received 10 percent of the vote. Sharpton said he's pleased to have more than doubled the vote of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who dropped out following a poor showing in the seven states conducting primaries or caucuses today.

In Oconee County, Edwards received 69 percent of the votes cast. His cousin said she couldn't be more proud.

I'm so excited for John and for Elizabeth and I think that the most important thing in my heart right now is for the rest of America to know John Edwards," Debbie Morehead told WYFF News 4's Erin Hartness.

More than 200,000 people turned out for today's Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina. That turnout doubled the old primary record of 114,000 voters in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary. But the number is still less than half the number who voted in the 2000 Republican primary.