In a nod to the importance of black voters to the Democratic Party, the South Carolina primary is designated as a crucial early test for the first time, and two black candidates step forward to run. But it’s one of their white opponents who wins a majority of the black vote, and the nomination.

After the Clinton-Gore years, the Democratic presidential nomination was truly wide open.

After Bill Clinton's unopposed renomination in 1996 and Al Gore's undefeated romp over a single opponent in 2000, the party was in need of a new leader to oppose George W. Bush. The national political atmosphere was charged. A country still traumatized by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks found itself divided by the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Among Democrats, who still seethed over Bush's Supreme Court-assisted victory in 2000, the will to unseat the president was strong.

In theory, there was a clear opening for the first full-fledged black candidacy since Jesse Jackson's. The bond between black voters and the Democratic Party had only strengthened in the '90s, and a significant change to the calendar promised to expand their influence: South Carolina would hold its primary immediately after Iowa and New Hampshire. The move was initiated by the state's Democratic leaders, who'd watched with envy as their Republican counterparts gained enormous national clout through their "first in the South" GOP primary, which had started in 1980.

But there were no obvious black candidates. Jackson, whose stature had dimmed since his presidential runs and who'd taken a hit with the revelation that he'd fathered a child with an aide, was a nonstarter. There were also no sitting black governors or senators. This is what opened the door for the Rev. Al Sharpton, a preacher and New York-based activist, to try his hand at national politics. Sharpton began testing the waters early in the cycle, making a trip to Iowa in February 2002, and announced a year later that he would, in fact, run. "I will be attempting to expand the party to disaffected voters, minority voters and young voters, who will be the margin of victory in 2004," he said. (“Sharpton Takes Step in Presidential Bid,” The New York Times, Jan. 22, 2003.)

Sharpton, who currently hosts a show on MSNBC, called Jackson his "mentor" and "surrogate father," but there was clear tension between them. Jackson refused to endorse Sharpton, who in turn accused Jackson of becoming a weakened "establishment" figure during the Clinton years. Jackson, Sharpton said, went from being number two to Dukakis in 1988, to four years later at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago "begging to get a primetime speech, which he didn’t get. We can't tolerate that.” (“Sharpton tuning primary battle cry,” George Will, The Albany Times-Union, Jan. 10, 2002.)