After months of candidate promises, the voters finally get their turn to choose who might deliver those promises.
Today's South Carolina Democratic presidential primary may be too close to call between national front-runner Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who won big in Iowa and New Hampshire, and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a native of South Carolina who has made it clear that he must win to stay in the race.
The race is extremely close, polls show, but as many as 20 percent of voters hadn't chosen a candidate by Monday.
"Undecided voters can and do make up their minds late in the game," said Scott Huffmon, a political science professor at Winthrop University.
Spratt endorses Kerry
One undecided voter decided Monday to endorse Kerry: York's 22-year veteran Congress-man, 5th District Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C. Both Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., the state's highest ranking black politician, and the state's 38-year Democratic Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, previously endorsed Kerry.
Citing Kerry's experience and ability to battle President Bush "toe to toe," Spratt said he chose Kerry over Edwards and retired Gen. Wesley Clark. "The purpose of our primary is to winnow the field down to the candidate most qualified and then pick the one who is most competitive," Spratt said in a statement. "Edwards and Clark are highly qualified, and I hope to see one of them on the ticket, but I think the Democratic ticket will be strongest with John Kerry at the top."
The South Carolina primary is the first in the country to have a large number of black voters. Both Edwards and the Rev. Al Sharpton of New York, the lone black candidate, made several appearances around the state and have heavily courted black voters.
The undecided voters could be affected by the late personal push by Edwards, said Rick Whisonant, a political science and history instructor at York Technical College. The other candidates have had to campaign over the past few days in other states having primaries and caucuses today, especially Missouri and Oklahoma, Whisonant said.
"I see an edge for Edwards right now because he has energized voters and hasn't deserted South Carolina," Whisonant said. "He's been here right to the end."
Democrats are expecting record turnout after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary had better than expected numbers. But if today's weather turns foul, turnout could be hurt.
"We are hoping for good turnout, but with bad weather you might lose some of the older folks," said Amos Gantt, a longtime Democratic Party activist from Chester County.
Contact Andrew Dys at 329-4065 or adys@heraldonline.com.
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Polls will be open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For a list of polling places, click here.
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