South Carolina Snapshot

My sister who lives in the upstate of SC called this morning and said that the turn out, especially among African-American voters appeared to be very heavy. She's predicted a double-digit win for Obama and historic turnout levels. By the time she went to vote this afternoon, there were only three people at that polling place. So, now she's re-thinking. I guess we'll all just have to wait for the results. I suspect folks came out to vote early in the day so they could have their afternoons free for other things. It's interesting-and this makes you want to throw the demographic stereotyping out the window. She has two grown daughters., both college graduates. The single one (parent) voted for Edwards, and the married one (teacher) voted for Clinton. That niece's husband had not voted and, though a democrat, "liked McCain." My sister voted for Edwards, but her husband voted for Obama because, "he didn't want Clinton to win." That's a pretty interesting split in one democratic family.

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Tidbits and Telephones

From the ground in SC, my SC sister says:

* She got a robocall yesterday from someone who said that he was a former FBI agent who then spent about three minutes detailing all the things the Clintons had ever done wrong. She said, "I don't usually listen to those things, but the FBI agent calling caught my attention." I asked, and she said there was no id on the call about who paid for it or approved it. She didn't care for the mudslinging, but I guess the point here is that she listened to all of a long call by robocall standards. ("Robocall standards." Is that an oxymoron?)

* That SC dems are "not happy" that Clinton seems to have "abandoned" the state. She thinks the early exit will hurt her on Saturday. How much? Who knows.

* She also says that she has a number of African-American friends who once were leaning toward Clinton who are now supporting Obama in the wake of the recent exchanges between the campaigns.

* She says that the Clinton campaign is running a radio ad there that provides a partial quote about what Obama said about Republicans being the party of ideas for the last fifteen years, and then lists programs that Obama has never supported or approved of. She finds it misleading.

* She says the item about Obama "pressing the wrong button" when voting in Illinois is getting some traction there. No surprise-buttons, President-there's an easy just under the surface connect to the previous allegations about lack of foreign policy experience.

And in Georgia:

* A Democratic friend who supports Edwards got a call yesterday asking for support the Clinton. When the friend declined, the caller asked if the friend was still a democrat. Probably an ID call, but also probably not quite the best phrasing. Friend was offended.

* Good for Baker for investigating the Lewis robocall. Speaking of a Roverian strategy-a republican consulting firm doing a call slamming Lewis for supporting Clinton. He hit, Lewis, Clinton and Obama (because some could've thought the call came from him) all at the same time.

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Photographic Evidence

There's been a little Gold Dome buzz about photographic evidence of a different sort-but what I have for you today is a little photographic evidence of the Georgia for Edwards trip to South Carolina yesterday. One canvassing group that included former Lt. Gov. Taylor, Steve Leeds and Chuck Byrd reported knocking on more than seventy doors and finding overwhelmingly positive support for Sen. Edwards. JRE may just be a South Carolina sleeper! Thanks to all who made the trip. Enjoy the photographs!

Ready to Knock on Doors!

Georgia Girls Have Got John's Back!

Volunteer Extraordinaire': Julie Simon

Georgia for Edwards Canvassers Gather in Greenville

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Scores of Georgians Join Edwards' Fight for South Carolina Votes

Don't count John Edwards out just yet. This morning, scores of Georgians, including former Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, Chuck Byrd, Julie Simon and Steve Leeds, rose early and traveled to Greenville, South Carolina to knock on doors for John Edwards. Some supporters met at the capitol in Atlanta to caravan together, while others from Middle and South Georgia traveled directly to Greenville. This time yesterday, we were expecting about ten Georgians to make this trip, but at eleven o'clock today, Chuck Byrd called to report that more than thirty Georgia volunteers had already arrived and more were on the way. The canvassing trip today is a part of the ongoing efforts of Georgians on behalf of Sen. Edwards. Those efforts include hosting events with Sen. and Mrs. Edwards, recruiting volunteers and fundraising.

You might wonder why, at this stage of the race, these Georgians would get up at dawn-thirty on a Saturday morning to travel to South Carolina. The answer is simple: despite the media's continued efforts to pronounce the Edwards campaign dead, we believe that voters deserve a choice and that John Edwards offers Democrats the best opportunity to win in November. Those of us from Middle and South Georgia also recognize that Edwards is the only candidate of either party who has paid two wits of attention to rural Georgia. Word has it that the rest, when asked to draw a map of Georgia, used I-20 as the southern-most boundary.

Go get those V2's guys! And send pictures to post here.

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Clinton Short of Cash?

How in the world do you raise a hundred million dollars and find yourself short of cash? If MyDD is right, that's exactly what's happened to Hillary Clinton. She "only" has fifteen-twenty million left and a high burn rate with her heavy staff. And, rumors are floating that if she does not do well today in New Hampshire, where-like Iowa-voters are turning out in record numbers, she may skip Nevada and South Carolina in order to focus on the February 5th states.

I don't believe for one second that Clinton will officially walk away from either of these contests nor do I think it would be a good strategy for her to do so; however, it is amazing that this candidate who was "inevitable" a few weeks ago is increasingly viewed as desperate and non-viable. I did hear that she's trimming staff, and that would not be surprising. How quickly things change! Obama and Edwards would do well to remember that there is still a lot of territory between now and the convention, so who knows what else will change-or change back.

On a related note, I am thrilled about the turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire. One of the ways things can "change" is through the involvement of lots of new people. Perhaps that's how we break partisan gridlock. As a friend said, not since the 1960's have I seen this level of interest and enthusiasm.

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