In South Carolina, a bid for black women's votes By Katharine Q. Seelye Tuesday, January 15, 2008 c/o IHT

In South Carolina, a bid for black women's votes
By Katharine Q. Seelye

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
CHARLESTON, South Carolina: Juanita Ramsey, a retired administrative assistant, was standing by her front door in her largely black neighborhood here. As she pointed to the homes of her neighbors, she identified them by political preference:

"Obama, Obama, Hillary, Hillary, Hillary," she said. "And my aunt over there, she's for Hillary."

Ramsey, 59, is supporting Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. She likes him, she said, but she is also tired of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and her husband, Bill Clinton, the former president.

"Hillary and Bill, we've done that," Ramsey said.

The Democratic presidential primary here, on Jan. 26, will be the first test of the candidates' strength in a state where blacks are expected to cast more than half the Democratic votes. Significantly, perhaps a third of those voters will be black women, like Ramsey.

Both campaigns have been conducting intense drives for their votes, believing they will play a central role in deciding whether the Democrats ultimately nominate a white woman or a black man for president.

Interviews with about 50 black women, here and in Loris, a rural town in the eastern part of South Carolina, suggest split views but some growing support for Obama. The interviews were conducted just as racial questions were intensifying in the news media about whether Clinton and her husband had made insensitive comments and whether the Obama campaign had fanned the flames.

But many of the women said they were basing their views on other concerns. Some said they thought a man should be stronger than a woman. Many also panned the moment before the New Hampshire primary when Clinton briefly teared up when she was asked about the rigors of the campaign.

But as the checkered politics of Ramsey's neighborhood suggests, there is a reservoir of support for Clinton. Several women who said the economy was the most important issue to them said they planned to vote for her, and most said they loved Mr. Clinton. (Only one woman mentioned former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, the third leading Democratic candidate, and that was because she had seen his television commercials.)

In North Charleston, Marvetta Perry, 46, who owns a beauty salon, said her customers were so divided between Obama and Mrs. Clinton that she would not publicly discuss her own choice for fear of alienating half her clientele. "I have some who are voting for Obama and some who are voting for Clinton," she said. An Obama sign hangs in her entryway, and Clinton literature is on the table.

Even as black women are choosing sides, many said they were still undecided. Scott Huffmon, a political scientist at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, said that while polls suggested Obama was winning the black vote, so many black women were undecided that they could influence the outcome.

"If Barack Obama captures the undecided black female vote, he will win the race," Huffmon said.

Ramsey said the racial politics of the moment was troubling. She said the Clintons were engaged in "character assassination" and would make a lame attempt to deny it.

"The tighter the race, a slip of the tongue, they'll apologize, 'Oh, we didn't mean to say it,' " Ramsey said. "One thing, they're saying Obama smoked the herb. Well, Clinton did, too."

Also working against Clinton here is a conservative, religious streak among black women. Many cited their biblical beliefs in saying they would vote for a man over a woman.

"A man is stronger," said Clara Vereen, 61, a hair stylist in Loris. She said she respected Clinton but "if a war come, a man should tell us what to do."

A glamorous picture of Obama and his wife, Michelle, beamed from the February cover of Ebony magazine, lying on a nearby table. "He's educated," Vereen said. "He's got what he's supposed to have. Why not give him a chance?"

Huffmon said that black voters here were reassured about Obama after he won the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3.

"Iowa showed that whites will support a black man," Huffmon said. "Some of the soft support for Hillary has been bleeding as African-Americans realized that Barack is viable even among whites."

For Obama, South Carolina is an important bridge connecting his proven support in white rural states and his potential support in big urban states that will vote on Feb. 5. For Clinton, the state is somewhat less vital strategically, but it remains a test of her own appeal — and that of her husband, the so-called first black president — in the face of the possibility of an actual black president.

"South Carolina, while very important to us, is not make or break for our campaign," said Jay Carson, a spokesman for Clinton.

Still, several women said Clinton was the best choice for working women, for the disabled and the elderly.

"She's willing to help people," said Nyeshia Green, 19, a parking attendant in Charleston.

Doretha McCallum Lee, 44, who does volunteer work and was having her hair done at Eclipse, in Loris, also said she liked Clinton.

"I think she'll be good for the people," Lee said.

Anesia Wilson, 34, who owns Eclipse and was spraying Lee's hair, is also with Clinton. "I don't think Obama is ready yet," Wilson said. "He's not ready to be a leader." She also admitted to some concern for Obama's safety. "Look what they did to Martin Luther King," she said.

Vereen had been reluctant to vote for Obama because she feared that giving him a higher profile might endanger him. But that concern has ebbed.

"I've been listening, and I even listened to him on 'Oprah' when he said, 'I ain't scared,' " Vereen said. "I would love for him to be president, and I'm not scared, so scared. I'm really trying to focus on what's good, what he'll do good for us."

Those who said they were undecided rendered a fairly harsh judgment on Clinton for the moment in New Hampshire when her eyes briefly went moist and her voice cracked.

"If Hillary is going to be president, she's got to toughen up," said Beverly Patrick, 49, the owner of Patrick's salon in Loris. She shook her head as she buzz-cut the silver dome of Mae Helen Johnson, 70, a home-health nurse.

"You can't get up there and cry," Johnson said.

Patrick said, "You've got to hide that," adding, "You've got to keep that in."

On the east side of Charleston, Marylee Aiken, 74, who has retired from the mailroom of a local paper company, said she was also turned off by the emotional moment.

"She had this breakdown, and if she's going to break down, you don't need this burden on you" of being president, Aiken said. She added that she was surprised by Clinton's quick pivot from tearing up to attacking Obama. "I don't know what got her pepped up so quick," Aiken said. But she was skeptical about it.

Outside a post office, Patricia Greene Edwards, 54, a schoolteacher, said she was sympathetic to Clinton's emotional moment.

And yet, Greene Edwards said, she has still not decided whom to support. She said she wished she could combine the best of Obama and the best of Clinton into one package.