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South Carolina to become Key Political Battleground State


monsoon

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While Richland County is more heavily minority (45%) than Lexington County (around 16%, I think), Democratic candidates do well in Richland amongst white voters as well. A while back I did some in depth research into Richland County voting in the 2004 Presidential election and found that Kerry even carried a slight majority in Richland County amongst white voters. Can you find anywhere else in South Carolina (or much of the South outside Florida) where this would be true? I think there are several reasons: the higher percentage of college graduates, the high % of residents born out of state (esp. from the Northeast), the large gay and lesbian population in Richland and the fact that more progressive people from other parts of SC look for a like-minded community and they find that in Columbia. These are not necessarily facts, but they are theories of mine.

I don't think a college degree is a good predictor of whether someone votes Democrat or Republican in elections. Colleges, per se, tend to be more liberal because those who choose academia as a career tend to be more liberal. And college is certainly a time for people to be exposed to a lot of different people and experiences, but whether that influences voting patterns is anyone's guess.

I disagree that Richland County has a high percentage of residents born out of state (e.g., Northeast) or a large gay and lesbian population. I know that it might seem to have some people from other areas - perhaps moreso than other areas of Columbia - but it seems that both are still in a small minority. Perhaps you mean relatively, compared to Lexington County or the Midlands region. If so, I agree that, in comparison, Richland seems more diverse. I would be surprised if the number of Northern transplants and gay/lesbian voters are significant enough to have a big impact on the election, though.

Nonetheless, your theories are interesting and I don't have any additional ones of my own to throw out there. Perhaps the state government being based in Columbia has something to do with it (activists, lobbyists, etc.)?

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I think Richland County serves as a microcosm of sorts of the demographics that tend to vote Democrat--true blue liberals, gays/lesbians, and minorities. In other blue counties in the state, the trend is overwhelmingly attributed to minorities only. Trust me, there isn't a significant, vocal liberal or gay/lesbian population in Orangeburg County. :)

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I don't think a college degree is a good predictor of whether someone votes Democrat or Republican in elections. Colleges, per se, tend to be more liberal because those who choose academia as a career tend to be more liberal. And college is certainly a time for people to be exposed to a lot of different people and experiences, but whether that influences voting patterns is anyone's guess.

I disagree that Richland County has a high percentage of residents born out of state (e.g., Northeast) or a large gay and lesbian population. I know that it might seem to have some people from other areas - perhaps moreso than other areas of Columbia - but it seems that both are still in a small minority. Perhaps you mean relatively, compared to Lexington County or the Midlands region. If so, I agree that, in comparison, Richland seems more diverse. I would be surprised if the number of Northern transplants and gay/lesbian voters are significant enough to have a big impact on the election, though.

Nonetheless, your theories are interesting and I don't have any additional ones of my own to throw out there. Perhaps the state government being based in Columbia has something to do with it (activists, lobbyists, etc.)?

I can assure you that Columbia has a very large gay and lesbian population compared to other areas of South Carolina and compared to most cities the size of Columbia.

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-If SC is one of the poorest states, and Democrats are supposedly for the downtrodden, why is SC a Republican stronghold, since they are viewed as the party of the rich?

The South was strongly democratic, until the sixties and civil rights became one of the most important issues of the day. Southern Democrats favored their views on civil rights over their views on equity for the lower economic classes.

I would not be surprised if the trends goes back to the way it was eventually, although it may require a little more distance from the sixties.

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I've never seen my hometown get so much national coverage.

MSNBC has been broadcasting live from the campus of SC State University in Orangeburg all day for the first ever Democratic Party debate.

And the university's choir is going to sing, and my sister sings on it! She'll finally get her 10 minutes of fame! :D

The actual debate starts at 7pm tonight.

A nice photo gallery with pictures of the campus preparing for the national debate can be found here.

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