27 February 2016
Hillary wins primary in a state she can’t win in November
As expected, Hillary Clinton has won South Carolina’s Democratic primary in a landslide. The New York Times reports she was the overwhelming choice of black voters, while white voters favored Bernie Sanders:
After supporting Barack Obama in 2008, African-American voters, who will be the dominant force in the coming Southern primaries, turned out in droves for Mrs. Clinton here. They supported her over Mr. Sanders by a 5-to-1 ratio, while he won the bulk of white voters, according to early exit polling.
If that exit polling holds true, Democratic voters split along racial identity lines. This probably means Clinton will win the deep south on Tuesday.
But neither she nor Sanders will carry the deep south in the general election. With the possible exceptions of Florida, Virginia, and North Carolina, the deep south will vote for the Republican nominee in November.
In my opinion, it does not augur well for the Democratic Party that its nomination could be won in states that Republicans will carry in the general election.