"Reactions to Obama, Clinton Excite S.C. Democrats"

Politico:

Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama drew huge crowds on recent campaign swings through South Carolina.

Together, they made a statement: The Democratic Party is back.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” remarked Democratic consultant Bob Wislinski on leaving the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center where Obama, a U.S. senator from Illinois, just had addressed a raucous rally of 2,800.

“I’m hopeful,” Wislinski said of his party’s future.

Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, spoke to more than 3,500 at a town meeting at Allen University.

South Carolina is a key battleground state in the primary process, coming just a week after New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary.

The S.C. Democratic primary is set for Jan. 29, 2008. The Republican contest tentatively is scheduled for Feb. 2, 2008.

With both parties holding early primaries, South Carolina will get a lot of attention from Republican and Democratic candidates. There’s been a steady stream since the first of the year.

A sizable number of South Carolinians have been showing up at the rallies of Democratic candidates, catching party establishment types off guard.

But it is foolhardy for candidates and their followers to suggest victory is in the air.

The size of the turnout is no indication of what’s going to happen on Election Day, says Clemson University political scientist Bruce Ransom.

Many in attendance at the candidate rallies are curiosity seekers, like John Clark, a State House employee.

He came to see Obama, a “celebrity, a rock star,” he said. But he was a long ways off from picking a horse to ride.

After all, what’s the rush?

Columbia attorney and former state Rep. I.S. Leevy Johnson cautions black voters to proceed slowly in picking a 2008 candidate for president.

Gather background information on the candidates. Listen to their stands on key issues. Check out their personal lives.

Right now, the momentum is with Obama and Clinton.

“I’m excited,” said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter. “Obama is stirring excitement among voters in a manner I have not seen before. That’s good for the Democratic Party.

“I want to win in ’08 and will support the candidate who demonstrates electability and whose message I can resonate with.”

Unlike some past years, Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, has no intention of staying on the political sidelines this primary cycle.

“I believe this election is for the Democrats to lose,” Cobb-Hunter said. “I can’t afford to sit this one out.”

Candidate No. 4, Please

Meanwhile, some Republicans are concerned that U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona appears to have lost interest in the race.

“The excitement in 2008 is on the side of the Democrats. No doubt about it,” says Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen , a GOP activist.

On the Republican side of the primary ledger, McCain is locked in a tight race and appears to be losing ground. Those who’ve seen him recently say he looks a bit shopworn.

“My impression is that the Republicans are demoralized,” Thigpen said. “They are not wild about any of their top three candidates.”

Politico has another story, "Stakes Go Up for Edwards in Iowa."