ANDREA SEABROOK, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Andrea Seabrook.
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Presidential Candidate): Yes we can heal this nation.
(Soundbite of crowd cheering)
Sen. OBAMA: Yes, we can seize our future.
(Soundbite of crowd cheering)
SEABROOK: Illinois Senator Barack Obama now gets to bask in the sunshine of his big victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary. New York Senator Hillary Clinton is regrouping from the beating she took yesterday. And former North Carolina Senator John Edwards insists he's in the race to the finish despite another dismal showing, this time in a state he won in 2004.
The Democrats have held just four major primaries and caucuses so far. Obama has won two and Clinton has won two, plus the vote in Michigan that did not award any delegates.
NPR senior Washington editor Ron Elving joins me to survey the Democratic political landscape today beyond South Carolina.
Ron, can the results from this one state be that important?
RON ELVING: Andrea, they can if that one state represents a broader shift in spirit or attitude toward the candidates and if we then see that replicated elsewhere. Now, Hillary Clinton still has a national polling lead and she still looks strongest in the big states voting on February 5th. We've seen a pattern, though, of big Clinton leads disappearing as the actual vote approaches even in states where she's wound up winning. So if that should continue and if Obama's momentum builds, then, yes, South Carolina will have been that important.
SEABROOK: Barack Obama had a big victory in raw numbers in South Carolina. When you look at how the vote broke down by demographic groups, though, what does that tell you?
ELVING: Obama did well across age groups, losing only among those over 60. He did well across income groups - somewhat better than he did in some of the earlier states. And he won among men and women by about the same percentage. But you know, no one's going to pay any attention to any of those facts because all anyone's going to remember from this vote is the color line.
The good news for Barack Obama is that he won the battle for African-American votes. And just a month or so ago, that was quite an open question. And the bad news is that by winning 80 percent of the black vote and only about 25 percent or less of the white vote, he risks becoming trapped in the role of being the black candidate, which is why you heard Bill Clinton yesterday comparing Obama's showing in South Carolina to Jesse Jackson, who did well in that state in 1984 and 1988, which is a way of saying it's a black thing; that's all it is.
SEABROOK: Hmm. Ron, let's turn to Hillary Clinton now. She has said all along that she is running a national campaign. She's particularly looking forward to February 5th Super Tuesday, when the Democrats have contests in 22 states. How is that strategy looking now in light of this defeat?
ELVING: The first thing she does is she goes down to Florida. And that's another Michigan situation where the national party has given them the death penalty, taken away the delegates. After she comes out ahead, as everyone expects her to do in that straw poll, she has a big victory celebration. And then she has some momentum of her own. And, you know, when you get through a day when more than 20 states are voting all at once - most of them states where Obama has not spent very much time - well, she ought to win most of the 1,600 Democratic delegates that are at stake that day. And if the delegate split is lopsided, she's really going to be in the driver's seat from there on out.
SEABROOK: NPR senior Washington editor Ron Elving. Thanks very much, Ron.
ELVING: Thank you, Andrea,