Biden shows determination to win back Black SC voters
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden doesn’t need to worry about his prospects in South Carolina’s Democratic primary Feb. 3. He’s got that locked up.
He also knows he’s not likely to win the red state come November. It hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1976.
He’s spending the weekend in the state nonetheless, intent on driving home two messages: He’s loyal to the state that saved his campaign in 2020 and he’s determined to win back Black voters here and elsewhere who were central to his election last time but are less enthused this go-round.
Biden gave the keynote speech Saturday night at the state party’s fundraising dinner ahead of its first ever “first-in-the-nation” Democratic primary Feb. 3. He’ll stick around to attend a political event at St. John Baptist Church on Sunday, in a state where politics and faith are intertwined.
Deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said of the primary that Biden’s team was working to “blow this out of the water” by running up the score against long-shot challengers. The Biden campaign also wants to learn lessons about activating Black voters — the backbone of the party — ahead of an expected 2024 rematch with GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
Biden has been getting mixed reviews from some Black voters in the state that came through for him in 2020, including discontent over his failure to deliver on voting rights legislation and other issues.
Overall, just 50% of Black adults said they approved of Biden in a December poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. That is compared with 86% in July 2021, a shift that is generating concern about the president’s reelection prospects.
APVoteCast, a national survey of the electorate, also found that support for Republican candidates ticked up slightly among Black voters during the 2022 midterm elections, although Black voters overwhelmingly supported Democrats.
The Biden campaign is running TV ads in South Carolina highlighting Biden initiatives that it hopes will boost enthusiasm among Black voters.
“On his first day in office with a country in crisis, President Biden got to work — for us,” the ad states. “Cutting Black child poverty in half, more money for Black entrepreneurs, millions of new good-paying jobs and he lowered the cost of prescription drugs.”
The campaign is spending more than $270,000 on the ads through the primary, according to tracking data. The Democratic National Committee also launched a six-figure ad campaign across South Carolina and Nevada, which is next on Democratic primary calendar, to boost enthusiasm for Biden among Black and Latino voters.
Meanwhile, a pro-Biden super PAC, Unite the Country, is airing an ad featuring Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., ticking through what he says are major Biden accomplishments such as reducing student loan debt and cutting insulin costs for older people.
It was Clyburn’s 2020 endorsement of his longtime friend Biden that helped the then-candidate score a thundering win in South Carolina’s presidential primary.
This is Biden’s second trip to South Carolina this month.
Biden spoke earlier in the month at the pulpit of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, where nine Black parishioners were shot to death in 2015 by a white stranger they had invited to join their Bible study.
In his speech, Biden denounced the “poison” of white supremacy in America and said such ideology has no place in America, “not today, tomorrow or ever.”
It was meant as a direct contrast with Trump, whom Biden accused of “glorifying” rather than condemning political violence.