In South Carolina, Democrats see a test of Biden’s appeal to Black voters

President Joe Biden’s campaign and affiliated groups are amping up their efforts in South Carolina, pouring in money and staff before the first Democratic primary in February in an effort to generate excitement for his campaign in the state.

It seems, at first glance, to be a curious political strategy. Few incumbent presidents have invested so much in an early primary state — particularly one like South Carolina, where Biden faces no serious primary challenger and where no Democratic presidential candidate has won in a general election since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

But the Biden campaign sees the effort as more than just notching a big win in the state that helped revive his struggling campaign in 2020, putting him on the path to winning the nomination. It hopes to energize Black voters, who are crucial to Biden’s reelection bid nationally, at a moment when his standing with Black Americans is particularly fraught.

“One of the things that we have not done a good job of doing is showing the successes of this administration,” said Marvin Pendarvis, a state representative from North Charleston, South Carolina. He added that the campaign will need to curate a message “so that Black voters understand that this administration has done some of the most transformational things as it relates to Black communities, to minority communities.”

Four years after Biden vowed to have the backs of the voters he said helped deliver him the White House, Black Americans in polls and focus groups are expressing frustration with Democrats for what they perceive as a failure to deliver on campaign promises. They also said they have seen few improvements to their well-being under Biden’s presidency. Some are unsure whether they will vote at all.

To counter that pessimism and boost Black turnout, Democrats are hitting the Palmetto State with a six-figure cash infusion from the Democratic National Committee, a slew of campaign events and an army of staffers and surrogates.

Party leaders are hoping for a large showing at the polls, which would broadcast to the rest of the nation the importance of Black voters and their support for Biden’s reelection, reenergize a must-win bloc and ignite the momentum seen in 2020.

“That’s another part of the historic nature of South Carolina going first,” said Christale Spain, the chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party who was elected in April. “This is the first time that Black voters are going to vote first to choose the president.”

But the scale of Biden’s investments reflects the challenge he faces. Lackluster turnout by Black voters in February could be more than a stumbling block; it could be a dire sign Democrats are disconnected from one of their most loyal constituencies.

Increasing Black turnout in South Carolina will be an especially tall order for both the state party and Biden’s campaign in 2024. Many South Carolina Democrats are still nursing wounds from the 2022 midterm elections, in which the party lost several safe state House seats and Black turnout fell to its lowest point in decades.

“You have people who are discouraged because they have not seen the policies translate into their mailbox, their ZIP code,” said Marlon Kimpson, a longtime Biden ally and former state senator who was appointed to the White House Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations this year. “And I attribute that to poor communications, quite frankly, out of Washington, D.C. That is improving.”

Democrats’ efforts in South Carolina over the next several weeks will amount to a one-state test case of Biden’s appeal to Black voters, and they hope the results can be replicated across the nation.

Starting in early January, where Black South Carolinians groan about higher prices and failures on student loan debt relief, they will find Democrats on the airwaves and at their doors praising the Biden administration’s push for rural broadband access and increased funding to Black colleges and universities.

Party leaders in rural counties who might feel neglected by Democrats in more populous areas of the state will be able to greet national party brass in their own communities at stops along a multiweek bus tour, which campaign officials say will crisscross the state and deploy multiple Biden surrogates. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to visit the state at least once before the Feb. 3 primary.