Until this week, Democrats in South Carolina didn’t have much to celebrate.
They again failed to win the statewide race in November. They also lost five state seats represented by black Democrats.
But then something unexpected happened in a state that hadn’t elected a Democrat to the White House since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Members of the Democratic National Committee, at the personal request of President Joe Biden, called for a Dec. 2 vote to elevate South Carolina to an even greater position of national power. What if not only could South Carolina retain the coveted “first in the South” primary, but it was also the first state to have a say in who the Democrats want in the White House in 2024?
Already, South Carolina Democrats are dreaming of that opportunity.
“It’s really like a stroke of hope, and hope is very contagious,” said Anjuan Seawright, a political operative for the South Carolina-based Democratic Party. For me, it’s like recharging the political battery.”
The proposals advanced by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee represent a dramatic rethinking of the party’s presidential nomination process.
The road to the Democratic nomination will not start in Iowa, but in South Carolina on February 3, 2024, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on February 6. Georgia follows him on February 13th, and Michigan isn’t far away. The calendar passed almost unanimously, with only her two members of the 33-man committee voting against the change. Scott Brennan from Iowa and Joan Dowdell from New Hampshire.
The plan to put South Carolina in the lead still needs final approval by the entire DNC at a meeting in early February. But South Carolina political watchers say the proposed calendar sends a clear message. says.
“My first thought was ‘finally,'” said Brandon Upson, chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party’s black caucus. Anyone who works as an American must run for office on a platform that speaks more about America from the start, and there is no way that candidates will be viable from now on. please don’t.”
In a letter to members of the rules committee, Mr. Biden urged the party to end “restrictive” caucuses and promote black voters.
“For decades, black voters in particular have been the backbone of the Democratic Party, but they’ve been pushed to the back of the early primaries,” Biden wrote. “We rely on these voters in elections.” but fail to recognize their importance on the nominating calendar.It’s time to stop taking these voters for granted and, in the process, give them a louder, faster say. ”
In South Carolina, black voters made up more than half of the Democrats who voted in the state’s Democratic presidential primary in 2020. CNN exit pollBiden also publicly believes that these voters and South Carolina helped secure the party’s nomination and eventual election to the White House.
DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison held back tears at the Dec. 2 meeting, saying how much it means, as a black man in South Carolina and as an American, to see the Democrats speak out for black voters. I told you South.
“I was moved to tears when our former DNC chairman and dear friend Donna Brasil spoke about the people of our country, people who are normally unseen and unheard. Dirt roads.People without fancy college degrees.People living paycheck to paycheck.People like my grandparents.
Upson predicts that if South Carolina goes first, “only the strongest and most conscientious will succeed.”
“Just ask any candidate from South Carolina. Our people’s BS radar is very sensitive and we don’t take it,” he said. I’m not taking anything from the Don’t think it will..”
History is also on the side of the nation. Since 1992, South Carolina Democrats have chosen the party’s ultimate presidential candidate, but in 2004, when Democrats voted for North Carolina Senator John Edwards (Seneca-born son), There was one exception.
Democrats also see the prospect of Palmetto becoming the country’s first primary as a much-needed morale boost for state parties seeking more wins. A high-profile location should attract more political talent to the state, he said.
“This comes at a very good time for us, and it helps us start the rebuilding process,” said Tyler Jones, a Charleston-based Democratic strategist. “Just like in sports there are teams who know they can’t win in a particular year, it’s because they’re rebuilding. It’s going to take years to return to that excellence. But This will surely help.”
But even Democrats here are quick to admit that this whole primary may not happen. With state laws protecting the country’s first primary, New Hampshire already threatens to go rogue.
But the biggest question mark is not DNC approval. That’s what Biden will do next.
Twenty-one Democrats seeking their party’s 2020 presidential nomination pose together after House Majority Jim Cliburn’s world-famous fish fly in Colombia on Friday, June 21, 2019. will take. File/Meg Kinnaird/AP
“We will be the center of the political world in 2024, but only if the president doesn’t decide to run again,” said Dick Herr, a longtime Biden ally and former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman. Putrian said.
If Biden were to run for re-election, the party would likely not hold a nomination race and instead coalesce around the incumbent. This could be the country’s first primary election.
But if South Carolina holds its first national primary, the entire state could benefit.
The 2012 Republican presidential primary boosted South Carolina’s economy by about $20 million, according to a study conducted in 2015 by Matt Moore, former chairman of the Republican Party at the University of South Carolina. Moore predicts numbers could explode in 2024, with millions more likely to enter Palmetto state.
That economic boost will extend beyond the metropolitan areas of Charleston, Columbia, Myrtle Beach and Greenville, he said.
High-profile political events not only give voters across the state a front-row seat to history, they can also drive more visitors to hotels, diners to restaurants, and more money for the local economy. .
“Every small town barbecue joint in South Carolina should be thrilled with this news,” said Moore.
The last time Democrats made significant changes to the presidential nomination process was 16 years ago, when they voted to add early elections in two new states, South Carolina and Nevada.
Democrats are looking to change their presidential nomination timeline for 2024, but Republicans voted to make no changes to the lineup earlier this year.
The Republican National Committee chose to keep four states in their normal order: Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.
State Republican Party Chair Drew McKissick said, “It doesn’t matter what the Democrats do with their schedule.” “South Carolina is proud to be leading the South in the Republican primary and we are happy to keep it that way. schedule is already set without change.”
But there are already early signs that no one is excluding South Carolina.
Democratic operatives in the state told the Post and Courier that they have already received calls from presidential candidates if Mr. Biden doesn’t run. even bigger.
