Election 2008: South Carolina Democrats Vote

South Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman Carol Fowler was online Friday, Jan. 25 at 2 p.m. ET to take readers' questions about Saturday's Democratic primary in her state and how things are shaping up there for the 2008 election.

The transcript follows.

____________________

Washington: The press seems to think everyone in the Palmetto State is a Republican but there are an awful lot of Fowlers down there, right honey chile?

Carol Fowler: You're right -- there are a lot of Fowlers -- and even more Democrats with other names! But we are outnumbered by the Republicans. I hope they'll come to their senses this year, though, because the Democrats' candidates are so much better.

_______________________

Fairfax County, Va.: What do the latest polls say, and are these polls from trustworthy sources, or less reliable? Have polls been at all accurate for past Democratic primaries? Were they reliable in predicting the recent Republican primary?

Carol Fowler: The latest polls that I've seen have Obama about 10 points up on Clinton, and Edwards about 10 points below her. I think the race is closer than that, and a poll report this morning says that Edwards is picking up steam.

_______________________

Harrisburg, Pa.: Why do Democrats and Republicans have different primary dates in South Carolina? Has this proven to be confusing to any voters?

Carol Fowler: Our state law -- unlike most -- allows the parties to set their own dates. I insisted that the Democratic Party wouldn't violate the Democratic National Committee's rules, which tell us how early we can go. The GOP chair down here insisted on having his primary on the Feb. 19, even though it violated Republican National Committee rules. The South Carolina GOP has lost half their delegates as a penalty.

There has probably been a little confusion, but all the publicity about the race has kept it to a minimum.

_______________________

Photo with Hillary: Should Hillary let this one go, or could she rebut the picture with the Obama "slumlord" guy by having her campaign make a photo montage of the thousands of other people she and the president had their picture taking with during their White House years, with the implication being that the president and first lady have their picture taken with thousands of people?

Carol Fowler: There's no way I'm going to second-guess a presidential campaign on their strategy. All those D.C. experts running the campaigns know way more than I do -- or think they do, anyway!

_______________________

Washington: Because South Carolina has what is called a huge black voter base, I thought I would ask this question. Do you think it is positive or negative to remind people of skin color when describing their interest in the candidates? I think it is strange to divide people using skin color when they obviously have much more in common! Thanks.

Carol Fowler: One thing I'm seeing here is that every candidate has a significant number of supporters of both races. The news media seem much more concerned with race than the voters.

_______________________

Philadelphia: What did polls in South Carolina look like before the Iowa caucus? I ask because I was wondering if candidates such as Biden, Dodd and Richardson might have been provided greater scrutiny in South Carolina than they received in a caucus state with a 15 percent threshold before they even could win a delegate, and thus their candidacies were doomed before other states had a chance to look them over.

Carol Fowler: All three of those candidates made an effort here early on, but when they realized they weren't making much headway they decided to put all their marbles into Iowa. Can't blame them for that, as they desperately needed a good showing there.

_______________________

San Francisco: There were, and continue to be comments about the possible Bradley/Wilder effect in the elections. New Hampshire was one of the states. But in listening to CNN's Bill Schneider that evening after they called the election for Clinton, he was going through the polls ... and he said CNN used 8 polls to come up with their numbers, and at the end of the day, the only number that didn't match the poll numbers were Clinton's. Obama came in exactly where he polled earlier in the day. So it looked like no one who told the pollster they were voting for Obama changed their mind ... it apparently was the undecideds who made the difference.

Carol Fowler: There are enough undecideds here to make the difference, too, I think.

_______________________

New Jersey: How does Sen. Clinton do with men, especially in Southern or swing states (e.g. Ohio, Virginia, New Mexico)? I've seen lots on how she does with women after New Hampshire, but my anecdotal sampling is that the "Reagan Democrat" and Southern males (as a broad generalization) are fairly negative.

Carol Fowler: She has plenty of male supporters here -- my husband is one of them -- but I'm not sure what percentage of her support comes from men. Or what percentage of men support her. I do know that women will be 55 percent or more of our primary voters.

_______________________

Greenville, S.C.: Why do we vote at all in South Carolina? Then is no way to verify the true vote because there is no paper ballot to audit the election.

Carol Fowler: I vote because I want to affect the outcome. If I don't vote someone else will. I wish we had a paper trail for our machines, but staying home won't change that.

_______________________

Northern Virginia: I'm wondering about the local flavor of this primary. We always hear these characterizations like "Iowa voters demand special in-person attention," "New Hampshire votes are famously independent," whatever that means, and "like their town hall meetings," and so on. What are South Carolina voters like? What do they expect from candidates that is special to your state? Also, I noticed a lot of organizing around beauty parlors, barber shops and churches. Is that particular to your state, or typical of many Southern states?

Carol Fowler: We haven't had such a significant primary for enough cycles to develop traditions, but South Carolina voters are not all that different from those in other states.

I do notice that when candidates visit local hangouts people like it and comment on it.

_______________________

Marathon, Fla.: I wonder if there might be a reverse Bradley effect in South Carolina, wherein White Males say they won't vote for Obama but then do?

Carol Fowler: Goodness -- anything can happen, but we'll know tomorrow!

_______________________

Turnout: Any guess on turnout? What percent of out-of-state South Carolina retirees are Republican versus Democrat?

Carol Fowler: Our turnout will be very good, I think. In our 2004 primary there were 293,000, and we easily will exceed 300,000 this year. We might have more voters than Iowa and New Hampshire combined.

The South Carolina Republicans last week (there are way more of them here than Democrats) were off 20 percent or more from their 2000 race. I attribute our increase and their decrease to the fact that we have three very good, popular candidates, and their voters seem quite dissatisfied with the GOP field.

_______________________

Washington: Could you explain how superdelegates fit into candidates' overall delegate counts? Obama has a slight delegate lead in terms of delegates directly awarded so far in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, but I have seen news reports saying that Hillary has a 100-delegate lead when you include already-committed superdelegates.

Carol Fowler: The candidates are counting superdelegates (members of Congress, governors, national committee members) as they agree to support them. The superdelegates aren't bound by that, but the candidates are tracking them and apparently report those numbers to the press. Also I think some media are asking the superdelegates who they support. Those superdelegate numbers are unofficial.

The numbers of state-elected delegates are more official.

_______________________

Columbia, S.C.: Some polls in the past few days have shown an uptick for Edwards. Do you see any real prospect for Edwards challenging Clinton for second, and if so, what impact do you think it will have nationally?

Carol Fowler: If that happens, it will give Edwards some new life, and could have a big effect on the Feb. 5 states.

_______________________

Swansboro, N.C.: Why is Obama not being pressured on his relationship to Trinity United as Bush was on his relationship to Bob Jones University?

Carol Fowler: I'm not pressuring anyone on anything.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Do you think that all of the bickering between Clinton's camp (including her husband) and Obama's camp before the South Carolina primary will end up hurting the eventual nominee's chances in November? Or will we all just forget the bickering once the general election gets rolling?

Carol Fowler: I hope we can get past it. The November election is what counts. Another Bush-like administration could destroy this country.

_______________________

Macon, Ga.: Why does everyone think that black people automatically will vote for a black candidate! I am voting for Hillary Clinton. I feel that Obama is showing signs of weakness. I mean really, if he can't take the heat from the Clintons, how will he deal with radical world leaders?

Carol Fowler: Thanks for your comment.

_______________________

McLean, Va.: Are you concerned that the media will try to spin the results because of race? The media already has seized on one poll that says Sen. Obama has 10 percent of the white vote, while ignoring other polls that have him winning larger numbers of white voters.

Carol Fowler: The media are the best and worst thing in American politics. Can't live with them and can't live without them. Some of them are geniuses, but there's a generous sprinkling of real morons. What can I say?

_______________________

Franconia, Va.: How would you like to see the primary schedule change in 2012? Right now it is a state at a time, but very fast, then a fire-hose of overwhelming votes on Super Tuesday. No time for a candidate to stumble and then learn and adjust. I hate it. Also, my vote in Virginia will mean nothing by Feb. 12. What are your ideas or dreams for a better way for the party to handle this?

Carol Fowler: I'd like to see Congress step in and take control of the system. As it is, any state legislature can decide to move that state's process, completely ignoring party rules and the need to have a process that gives us the best nominee. That's what has pushed the start date so early -- the first of April would be soon enough!

_______________________

svreader: My fervent hope is that on Feb. 6 we can all come together behind the Clinton/Obama ticket, and that it gets the Democrats a lock on the White House for the next 16 years. Clinton/Obama -- why not elect both?

Carol Fowler: Thanks.

_______________________

fballfn : Does John Edwards have a security detail or is this just an Obama "I am so presidential I need security" request?

Carol Fowler: Not sure about Edwards -- Obama has them, as I understand it, because he has received threats. Sen. Clinton also has a detail.

_______________________

To Macon, Ga.: Interesting point, but I think Obama can handle unscrupulous world leaders just fine. What he is trying to do now is raise standards here, in America and in the Democratic Party. I am all for that.

Carol Fowler: I think any of our candidates can handle the world's leaders better than the current guy. And I'm all for raising standards.

_______________________

Carol Fowler: It's been fun to chat with you. Stay tuned tomorrow for the results from South Carolina!

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.