Obama Tries to Prove Electability to Blacks in S.C.

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The Candidates React - Barack Obama

Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) addresses his supporters after the New Hampshire primary election results filter in.

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Robert Ford, a black state senator from Charleston who is supporting Clinton, said he still that doubts Obama can win.

"We can't get elected to city council, school board, state legislature, state Senate or Congress without a majority-black district," Ford said. "Now we're talking about enough states to be president? . . . I believe Obama could get the nomination, but don't believe he can win in November."

Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval L. Patrick are among a handful of black officials who have won statewide elections in places where African Americans don't account for the majority of voters, although most black elected officials represent black districts.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, have frequently told black audiences to ignore their "fear," a reference to concerns about whether Obama can win, but also about his safety.

"He might need to get more security," said Curtis Sloan, a music writer from Greenwood, who worried that Obama's election would revitalize the Ku Klux Klan.

Rick Wade, a senior Obama adviser who focuses on African American outreach, said the victory in Iowa "puts to bed so many concerns" among blacks. As for the worry about the candidate's safety, he said, "I'm hearing less of that than a month ago."

Even with such concerns, enthusiasm is high in South Carolina. Obama's campaign was one of the only ones to open an office here, and his visit has become famous because a city councilwoman chanted "Fired up" at the event and Obama incorporated her saying into his stump speech.

Obama's campaign now has "Fired up" T-shirts, and the candidate refers to Greenwood when he leads crowds in a call and response at the end of his speeches, in which he shouts, "Fired up," and his supporters yell back, "Ready to go."

"It's great," said Quantella Covington, who works at a clothing store at a mall here. "Maybe we're going to get a black president."