CONWAY, S.C. — Former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll GOP set to release controversial Biden report Can Donald Trump maintain new momentum until this November? MORE was the headline attraction here at a Thursday evening rally, but it was a celebrity supporter, actress Vivica Fox, who cut to the heart of the matter.

“We are counting on you guys to start to get the 2020 election back on track,” Fox told the audience at Coastal Carolina University, shortly before introducing Biden.

Right now, Biden’s fate lies in the hands of Palmetto State Democrats.

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Winning the South Carolina primary is, at this point, the whole ballgame for the former vice president.

The firewall that his supporters have talked about for so long needs to hold in Saturday’s primary. If it does not, Biden’s campaign is as good as over.

Front-runner Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersNYT editorial board remembers Ginsburg: She 'will forever have two legacies' Two GOP governors urge Republicans to hold off on Supreme Court nominee Sanders knocks McConnell: He's going against Ginsburg's 'dying wishes' MORE (I-Vt.) has two first-place finishes and one near-tie for victory from the first three contests. Biden, who led national polling averages for months, has come fourth, fifth and a distant second in those three races, respectively.

The polls in South Carolina give grounds for both reassurance and nervousness for Biden supporters.

By some measures, Biden’s support in the state remains robust. But the polls are troublingly volatile. The four most recent surveys in the state, all conducted within the past week, have measured Biden’s lead as high as 20 percentage points and as low as 4 points.

Sanders is making a serious play in the state, drawing almost 2,000 people to a rally in Spartanburg on Thursday night and planning another, likely larger event in the state capital of Columbia on Friday afternoon.

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Biden has long relationships in the state to buttress his chances — the most conspicuous example being his endorsement by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a political icon in the state, who announced his support for the former vice president on Wednesday.

“I know Joe. We know Joe. But most importantly, Joe knows us,” Clyburn said.

Biden made sure to mention having been “friends for so long” with Clyburn at the start of his remarks here.

The clash between Biden and Sanders in South Carolina is a window into a much larger struggle in the Democratic Party.

If Sanders were to win, it would not just deal a final blow to Biden’s bruised presidential hopes. It would also show that Sanders is expanding his constituency and that his left-wing platform can take over the party from the center-left forces that have dominated it since Bill Clinton William (Bill) Jefferson ClintonBattle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight Sunday shows - Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death dominates Bill Clinton on GOP push to fill Ginsburg vacancy: Trump, McConnell 'first value is power' MORE was president.

On the other hand, a big margin of victory for Biden would revitalize his chances and reestablish him as the main centrist alternative to Sanders. This claim has been challenged of late by the exorbitant campaign spending of former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and by the strong early results posted by former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death Bogeymen of the far left deserve a place in any Biden administration Overnight Defense: Woodward book causes new firestorm | Book says Trump lashed out at generals, told Woodward about secret weapons system | US withdrawing thousands of troops from Iraq MORE.

Furthermore, if Biden were to outperform expectations and relegate Sanders to a poor second, it could call into question how well Sanders might do in some of the southern states that vote on Super Tuesday, March 3.

Alabama and Arkansas are among the states voting then, in addition to the two biggest prizes of California and Texas where Sanders is stronger.

Biden, speaking at this university 10 miles from Myrtle Beach, took aim at Sanders only a handful of times, and rarely with real anger.

The closest he came to aggression was asserting that he felt resentful of Sanders for reportedly considering a primary challenge to President Obama in 2012. He also hit Sanders’s record on gun control.

Biden’s brand has never been that of an attack dog, however. He prefers to paint himself as the candidate who can reach out to opponents and bring normalcy back to the White House after what he sees as the aberrational nature of President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE.

He extolled the virtues of “decency,” as he often does, insisted that he was the candidate who could produce “results” and said — in response to a question that got perhaps the single loudest cheer of the evening — that he would consider Michelle Obama Michelle LeVaughn Robinson ObamaTo honor Justice Ginsburg's legacy, Biden should consider Michelle Obama National Urban League, BET launch National Black Voter Day The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - White House moves closer to Pelosi on virus relief bill MORE as his running mate “in a heartbeat” if he thought there was any chance the former first lady would say yes.

That was enough for some voters.

Don Yonce, an 82-year-old former business owner, told The Hill that it would be foolish to push “a rookie” toward the presidency and that Biden “knows the ropes.”

The former vice president, Yonce insisted, was “the only one on the Democratic side” who has the requisite experience to hold the nation’s highest office.

Coleman Randall, a 65-year-old retiree from the nearby town of Little River, said that he had decided to vote for Biden only within the last week.

He said he had at various times considered supporting Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenGOP set to release controversial Biden report Biden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? Warren, Schumer introduce plan for next president to cancel ,000 in student debt MORE (D-Mass.) and that he had been interested in Sens. Kamala Harris Kamala HarrisSocial Security and Medicare are on the ballot this November Harris honors Ginsburg, visits Supreme Court The Hill's Campaign Report: Trump and Biden vie for Minnesota | Early voting begins in four states | Blue state GOP governors back Susan Collins MORE (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker Cory Anthony BookerBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death DHS opens probe into allegations at Georgia ICE facility Democratic lawmakers call for an investigation into allegations of medical neglect at Georgia ICE facility MORE (D-N.J.) before they dropped out. In the end, he said, he had greater "trust" in Biden.

Biden needs to depend on voters like those if he is to hold the Sanders tide at bay.

Right now, it is not certain that he can do so.

The Memo is a reported column by Niall Stanage, primarily focused on Donald Trump’s presidency.