Hillary Clinton vanquished Bernie Sanders — and her own ghosts — in the South Carolina Democratic primary Saturday night, notching her second straight early-state victory for a burst of momentum heading into Super Tuesday.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Clinton led Sanders 74 percent to 26 percent.


Celebrating her victory with supporters in Columbia, Clinton made it clear: The campaign is going national, and she is going after Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

"Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again," she said. "America has never stopped being great. But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers."

In another unmistakable contrast with Trump's belittling of opponents and dire warnings about America being in decline, Clinton added, “I know it sometimes seems a little odd for someone running for president in these days and this time to say we need more love and kindness in America. But I’m telling you, from the bottom my heart, we do. We do. We have so much to look forward to. There’s no doubt in my mind that America’s best years are ahead of us.”

Sanders congratulated Clinton before holding a campaign rally in Rochester, Minnesota. “In politics, on a given night, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” he told reporters after getting off his chartered jet. “Tonight we lost. ... (On) Tuesday over 800 delegates are at stake and I intend to win many, many of them."

Sanders played down his defeat during the rally, focusing on his campaign message about economic inequality and the public's need to get engaged in politics. In continuing his discourse about campaign contributions, Sanders again called upon Clinton to release the transcripts of her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs.

Though the win was expected in a state long seen as safe terrain for the former secretary of state thanks to her solid support among African-American voters, it was nonetheless welcome for Clinton after her experience in the Palmetto State eight years ago. Barack Obama romped to victory against her that year, shattered any vestige of inevitability for the former first lady. But there would be no repeat this time against Sanders, whose shortcomings among key constituencies on the left were further exposed as Clinton solidified her status as the Democratic presidential frontrunner.

On Saturday, African-American voters in South Carolina supported Clinton in bigger numbers — 87 percent to 13 percent, according to exit polls — than they did Obama when the two squared off in 2008. In that contest, Obama won 78 percent of black voters.

With the outcome all but preordained, both candidates spent Election Day in Super Tuesday states — Clinton in Alabama, and Sanders in Minnesota and Texas. Clinton, however, returned to South Carolina on Saturday evening for her victory party.

Sanders was ready to just move on.

The candidates and their surrogates spent the majority of the week leading up to the first southern Democratic primary jabbing at each others' records and, in the case of Sanders, appealing to black voters to take a closer look at his record and policies on economic inequality.

The Clinton campaign, meanwhile, pressed its advantage against Sanders, attempting to link his vote against a 1990s background check bill to the June shooting at a Charleston church that killed nine people. Despite his occasional opposition to gun control measures during his time in Congress, Sanders has described himself as a strong advocate for stricter gun laws, especially for someone representing a rural state.

Sanders seemed to downplay South Carolina's importance, saying after his narrow loss in Nevada that his campaign had an "excellent chance" on Super Tuesday "to win many of those states." Speaking to reporters in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday, Sanders insisted his campaign was not writing off South Carolina, but his light presence in the state and subsequent trips to Oklahoma, Ohio and Illinois indicated otherwise.

The Vermont senator held his final event in South Carolina on Friday evening, noting his progress in the state since he started campaigning there but effectively lowering expectations for himself.

The disparity between the two candidates was reflected in their top surrogates: Sanders had the rapper Killer Mike stumping for him, while Clinton deployed South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the highest-ranking black Democrat and third-most senior Democrat overall in the House of Representatives.

Sanders tried to tie his economic message to criminal justice reform and police discrimination against African Americans. But he was also forced to try and explain a remark he made the previous week that Clinton was embracing Obama to attract African-American voters. “I’ve been at the president’s side time and time again," Sanders said.

But former South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges, a Clinton backer, said Sanders was swimming upstream among black voters. "When you watch Bernie, it’s like he’s taking a cram course in how to communicate in churches, it doesn’t feel natural," Hodges said.

Indeed, though Clinton lost the state to Obama in 2008 after Bill Clinton's "fairy tale" remark — a reference to Obama's record on the Iraq War that many black voters perceived as a jab at his candidacy itself — the Democratic electorate emphatically moved on.

Gabriel Debenedetti contributed reporting from Rochester, Minnesota.