Hillary crushes Bernie Sanders to clinch SC win

Mar 08, 2016, 11:53

Bernie Sanders' roughly 50-point loss to Hillary Clinton in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary underscored his weakness with black voters. She won whites overall, 54% to 46% - a much smaller margin than her overall victory, but still significant, since Sanders typically outperforms Clinton with white voters.

The activist also questioned Ms Clinton about her support for a 1994 crime bill that resulted in many African Americans being jailed.

Clinton's camp was hoping a big win in SC, after more narrow victories in Iowa and Nevada and Sanders' clear win in New Hampshire, will set her up for a big night on Tuesday, when about 875 delegates will be up for grabs, more than one-third of those needed to win the nomination.

SC marked a "great test" for the coming votes in other southern states and showed that Clinton "can get a broad base of support of all demographics", her communications director Jennifer Palmieri told reporters, as the candidate shook hands and posed for selfies with supporters.

Clinton has shed almost all references to her Democratic opponent, choosing instead to focus on Republican front-runner Donald Trump in advance of the "Super Tuesday" contests in the South and around the country.

To underscore her support on issues important to African-Americans, Clinton highlighted the role that five mothers of black victims of gun violence who campaigned alongside her in SC.

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Mrs Clinton's win gave the former USA secretary of state's White House campaign a huge boost and puts her in a strong position as the race heads towards crucial multi-state contests on Tuesday.

"When you are president, the entire world listens to every word you say", Clinton said in Birmingham, Alabama, in an apparent attack on Trump's badgering of rival candidates and his caustic remarks about immigrants and Muslims.

With Sanders lagging in delegates and likely to face greater losses on Super Tuesday, Clinton's team is also starting to become more concerned with the need to eventually unify the party.

Spokesman Michael Briggs said that the Vermont senator believes "it is important for voters to know and understand the differences between Sen". Just over 4 in 10 said they trust both. In South Carolina, for example, Clinton received 39 delegates and Sanders picked up 14.

A voter places a sticker on her chest after voting in the South Carolina Democratic primary at Sanders Middle School in Columbia, S.C. Associated Press ...

"Let me throw it out", Sanders said.

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Mr Sanders, expecting defeat on Saturday, left the state even before voting was finished and turned his attention to some of the states that vote in this week's Super Tuesday delegate-rich contests.

But the 11 states that hold Democratic nominating contests next Tuesday will send a whopping 18 per cent of the delegates to Philadelphia. She also jabbed at his campaign slogan. Either way, it's clear Sanders has made up ground among Hispanic voters.

On Saturday morning in Texas, he slammed Clinton for supporting the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, calling it "homophobic".

Sanders' advisers knew that SC was a hard state for him to win, which is why he spent the week on the road and Saturday night in Rochester, Minnesota, where he delivered his usual stump speech - drawing enthusiastic applause when he delivered sharp criticism of Clinton's super PAC, paid speeches and vote on the Iraq war. "I will tell you the answer to that on Wednesday, how's that?" he said. Among independents, a slim majority backed Sanders. If Clinton were to win every single last one of them, this can still turn into a tight horse race.

There was good news for Clinton, whose numbers on trust and credibility have lagged far behind Sanders in earlier contests.

Three-quarters of voters said they want the next president to generally continue President Barack Obama's policies, while just 2 in 10 want the next president's policies to be more liberal.

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