Sanders’ outsider status helped in Iowa and New Hampshire, but in the south Clinton remains the strong favorite – especially among African Americans, who make up a majority of the Democratic electorate

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

At the annual oyster roast and fish fry in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Hillary Clinton packed hundreds into a barnhouse and urged them in the tones of a preacher to vote for her in Saturday’s primary. Outside, Bernie Sanders was forced to wait and hope for his own revival.

Dozens of people waited with him at the fairgrounds late Friday, though mostly to hear what they could from Clinton as she finished the last stage of her campaign before South Carolinians vote.

“I’m here,” she said loudly over the cheering, “because I know the road to the White House goes through Orangeburg.” The crowd erupted in applause.

As she spoke, Sanders’ campaign bus idled nearby, the senator waiting for the former secretary of state to finish her remarks in a state where he is once again the underdog.

Sanders’ early victories in the race – a virtual tie in Iowa and an emphatic victory in New Hampshire – were driven by his appeal as an outsider candidate who linked various issues to a central problem: inequality. But in South Carolina the insider candidate is drawing the large crowd and creating excitement, and Sanders is struggling to fit in.

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Preference polls show Clinton is the strong favorite in the state, especially among African Americans, who make up a majority of the Democratic electorate here.

“I’ve followed her from the very beginning,” said Callie Berry, 37, a grill cook at the local Cracker Barrel, after listening to the candidates speak on Friday. “I’m one of those girls that was like, Bill’s there but it’s Hillary with the brains.”

Like many voters across the state, Berry struggled to explain her loyalty to Clinton.

She agrees with Sanders’ agenda, and actually prefers his proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, versus Clinton’s plan to increase it to $12. But come Saturday she will cast her ballot for Clinton.

“I really can’t pinpoint it,” she said. “I just feel she has a connection with the people of this state.”

Throughout the week, a plainly confident Clinton emphasized her enduring relationship with the state. She indulged in a slight southern lilt in her voice, appeared alongside civil rights icons, including Congressman James Clyburn, and even, on occasion, asked audiences for an “Amen!”

At a town hall in Kingstree on Thursday, Clinton was introduced by Ronnie Sabb, a state senator and local attorney, who spoke of her accomplishments with the oratorical rhythm of a preacher.

“I’ll tell you,” Clinton said, with a slowed cadence. “We could just turn this into a revival.”

The crowd cheered wildly and Clinton continued: “I bet there’s some good singin’ that could be done here. In fact, I think we need more signing, don’t you?” They agreed. Then, in a sing-song, Clinton quoted a gospel hymn: “I sing because I’m happy. I sing because I’m free.” This was already her crowd, but Clinton had promised to take not any vote for granted, a gesture appreciated by Katherine Saab-Graham.

“That right there reminded me why I’m for Hillary,” Saab-Graham, an administrative assistant in Kingstree, said after Clinton finished her speech.

While Sanders insists he has not written off the state – and he has 200 paid staffers here – he has spent little time in South Carolina in the hours just before the primary. The senator arrived late on Friday from Minnesota and will leave again early on Saturday to campaign in Super Tuesday battlegrounds, such as Texas and Colorado, instead.

Clinton’s strength in South Carolina has also been reflected in Sanders’ rallies: the handful of the events that his campaign has organized in the state have felt flat and poorly attended compared with the huge crowds that the senator has drawn at almost his rallies for months.

During an event at a Claflin University on Friday, a historically black college in Orangeburg, a crowd that looked barely half the official estimate of 450 rattled around inside a gymnasium.

Killer Mike, the Atlanta-based rapper who has acted a key a surrogate for Sanders in the African American community, told the crowd that cracks had formed in Clinton’s “goddam firewall” – a reference to her expected dominance in southern states with large proportions of black voters.

But some supporters in the crowd feared that South Carolina, at least, may not be ready for the senator’s political revolution.

“It looks like Hillary might win,” said John Mack, a 22-year-old student at Claflin University. “South Carolina for a long time has been stuck in a traditional mindset.

“Though what he says is very progressive, I think that South Carolina might be afraid of change and wanting the familiarity and comfort of what they are used to.”

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Heading into Saturday’s primary, Clinton leads Sanders by more than 26 points, according to polling averages. Preference polls show a similar electorate gives her the advantage in a handful of southern states that will vote on Super Tuesday, when 11 states hold Democratic contests.

Before entering the fish fry, Sanders told reporters he felt “great” about Saturday’s primary, but it was clear that most of those present had come to hear the former secretary of state speak.

At her rival rally, Clinton departed the stage by requesting the crowd’s support in Saturday’s primary – the last before Super Tuesday.

“It would be a super send-off if we do well here in South Carolina,” she said, receiving roaring applause from the largely black crowd.

Not long afterward, Sanders took the stage and reminded the crowd how old he was – a segue into telling the mostly black audience that he had been with Martin Luther King during the famous march on Washington. He received polite applause.