AP VoteCast: Many SC black voters back return to Obama era
WASHINGTON (AP) — South Carolina Democrats were voting in Saturday’s presidential primary with a greater sense of nostalgia for the Obama presidency than voters in earlier contests — likely reflecting the state’s sizable bloc of African American voters.
This appears to be good news for Joe Biden, who served as Barack Obama's vice president.
Voters in the Palmetto State were more likely than those in Iowa and New Hampshire to want to restore Washington to the pre-Trump era, as opposed to seeking a candidate who will enact fundamental change. That's according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of more than 1,400 voters in South Carolina's Democratic primary.
About 4 in 10 voters in South Carolina wanted to return to the politics of the past, compared to about a third in Iowa and New Hampshire. That includes the roughly 50% of African American voters who said they want a Democratic presidential nominee who would emulate the presidency of Barack Obama — the first nonwhite individual to hold the office.
Biden won about half of those voters who desire a return to politics before Trump. The former vice president has campaigned on protecting, preserving and prolonging the vision of that administration. This message likely resonated in South Carolina, where African Americans have made up up to two-thirds of the Democratic primary electorate in past cycles.
South Carolina’s primary provides the first deep look at the opinions and beliefs of African American voters, who have historically made up more than half of that state’s Democratic voters and will continue to wield influence in upcoming races. The inability of Democrats to mobilize African Americans in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan likely contributed to their 2016 loss to President Donald Trump.
Nearly 70% of South Carolina voters identified as conservative or moderate, while just 32% considered themselves to be liberal. The Democratic nomination process has largely been split so far by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders corralling much of the support of liberals, followed to a lesser extent by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Moderates have been divided among Biden, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
Health care was the leading issue among the state’s Democratic voters, with about 4 in 10 calling it most important. These voters were roughly split between Biden and Sanders on who could best address the issue as president.
Twenty-one percent viewed the economy as the top priority, while 14% identified climate change. Democrats in Iowa and New Hampshire put greater emphasis on climate change and less importance on the economy.
South Carolina Democrats were also slightly more likely to identify race relations as the top issue, compared to previous states. Nearly a third of voters said that Biden would be strongest as president in addressing issues related to race.
About 6 in 10 voters said they support reparations for slavery, an issue that revealed a sharp racial divide. African Americans were vastly more supportive of compensation than white voters. About 8 in 10 black voters support the government making cash payments to people whose ancestors and relatives were enslaved, compared to just about a third of white voters.
Roughly three-quarters of all South Carolina voters favored reforming the criminal justice system to reduce the emphasis on policing and incarceration for low-level offenses. Majorities of white and black voters expressed support.
There were significant racial divides on the type of president that voters seek.
About 9 in 10 black voters said it was very important that a nominee cares about people like them, while about 7 in 10 whites said the same. Separately, about 8 in 10 black voters want a candidate with the “right experience,” compared to just about 5 in 10 white voters.
South Carolina voters appeared to be following the election closely. Nearly all of them said they watched a TV ad for a Democratic presidential candidate in the past few weeks, while about three-quarters said they viewed one of the recent debates.
Billionaire Tom Steyer has pumped money into ads in South Carolina, while media mogul and former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg — worth about $60 billion — has been doing so nationwide. But voters are unsure about whether having a financial titan challenging Trump, a reputed billionaire, in November's election would be helpful.
Only 21% said a billionaire would have an easier time against Trump, compared to 53% who said it would make no difference.
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AP VoteCast is a survey of the American electorate conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Associated Press and Fox News. The survey of 1,483 voters in South Carolina was conducted for seven days, concluding as polls closed. Interviews were conducted in English or Spanish. The survey is based on interviews with a random sample of registered voters drawn from the state voter file. The margin of sampling error for voters is estimated to be plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.
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