South Carolina Travelogue - The Democratic Race Moves On

And here is what caught my attention this time in the Palmetto State.

+ Lessons learned from the past. Other than reporters needing an internet connection and the disappearance of pay phones, not that much has changed over the years when it comes to covering campaign events. South Carolina always seems to occupy an interesting middle point - where some campaigns are starting to wheeze, while others are beginning to find their mojo. That was true again in 2020. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren weren't catching fire. One could feel that Joe Biden was moving forward in a way that no others were. But I also remembered the lessons of 2008 - when Barack Obama suddenly won big, and 2016 - when Hillary Clinton won big, to realize what was going on in South Carolina in 2020. Once again, we saw a big shift at the end, mainly with black voters moving in a big block to Biden, just as they did with Obama and Clinton before.

+ Another Sports Car Primary. When I got a small white Mustang as a rental car in New Hampshire, it was funny until I started fishtailing my way through the snows of the Granite State. When I arrived in Charleston, my latest rental was a white Camaro. Why I keep getting sports cars at the rental car desk, I don't know, but I am ready for something else, as this body is too old to be squeezed into those bucket seats for hours each day. I put almost a thousand miles on this car, zipping around the Palmetto State, hitting Columbia, Spartanburg, Greenville, and much more in between.

+ Sorry, you can't meet the candidate. One of the places I traveled to during primary week was Greenville, South Carolina, where Pete Buttigieg was holding a health care event at a black church.  One odd thing about most of Buttigieg's events during that last week was they were open to the press corps, but invite only for the public.  While I waited for the event to begin, various people who lived in the area stopped by, in hopes of watching the event, seeing the candidate, and more.  But they were all shooed away by campaign staffers.   I certainly understand that a candidate wants to have restricted events sometimes - but it seemed like it was coming at a difficult time for Buttigieg, who was not showing any signs of momentum on the ground at all in the Palmetto State.  Three days later, he was out of the race.

+ A Campaign Visitor. Just as he did in 2004 when I was covering the South Carolina Primary, my father ducked in for a quick visit on the campaign trail in 2020. The first time, we chased John Edwards around Columbia. This time, we drove around Charleston and got him into a Biden event, as he tried to help me figure out which way this primary was going. This was his review on Friday to me: "I finally think I've put my finger on the Biden crowd on Monday. Their lack of enthusiasm and the absence of excitement mislead me. I couldn't understand why they would stand in line and wait nearly a couple of hours to hear him without showing much interest or anticipation. What I missed, I now believe, was their determination. They just wanted to find a candidate who could beat Trump. If I am correct, and some other indications support my thesis, tomorrow will be a big day for Biden." My dad was right.

+ My Lucky Laptop. While I was trying to use a crowbar to get my father in and out of my Primary Sports Car, I put my laptop on the roof of the car. Walking back and forth around the car to load my gear and get us on the road, I hopped into the driver's seat without realizing that my laptop was still on the roof. The way that radio reporting has evolved over the years, my laptop has become my most important piece of equipment, where I edit all of my radio stories, write my blogs, do my social media and more. We drove around the hotel, and I was just about to turn onto the main drag when I realized - WHERE IS MY LAPTOP. The non-skid rubber feet on the bottom of the laptop performed up to specs, as it had not moved one inch, still sitting on the roof of my rental car. But it was a near disaster.

+ The South Carolina Shift. When I started covering the South Carolina Primary in 1992, there was only one logical place to anchor your coverage, and that was in the state capital of Columbia. You could easily get to all areas around the state, and most of the players were based there. But we have seen the focus of the campaign move to Charleston, with more events in the Low Country of South Carolina and up to Myrtle Beach. As I saw many news media types emerging from nice restaurants in Charleston in the hours before the Tuesday night debate, it all made total sense. Columbia has been replaced by Charleston, which has become the main economic engine for the rest of the Palmetto State.

+ The Mixed Economy of South Carolina. President Trump likes to talk about how this is the best economy ever. Democrats talk about those left behind. All of that was on display in South Carolina. In the Charleston area, there were signs of economic boom everywhere, from the North Charleston Port to the upscale suburban growth by the Isle of Palms, things look very good. But get in your car and drive across the state, and you will see a much different view. Rural areas of South Carolina still need a boost. Smaller towns like Georgetown - 60 miles up the coast from Charleston - are struggling to find the right mix of growth, combining beautiful old homes, the port, a paper mill, the steel mill, and a rehabbed main street. But there was a lot of evidence in Georgetown that the economy is not booming for everyone, with all sorts of failed dreams and shuttered businesses. The Payday Loans store across from the steel mill was closed, but the mill has re-opened - a big deal in Georgetown County.

+ A Tragic Scene. When politicians talk about gun control or gun rights, usually it is done away from the scene of the crime. But I stopped in my tracks on Tuesday as I was walking to the Democratic Party debate site, when I realized that it was just down the street from the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where self-avowed white supremacist Dylan Roof killed nine people. It was one of those moments where you see something, and it dawns on you that you know that place for some reason. And it wasn't a good reason. The issue of guns was central for Biden this past week. At an event in Charleston, the crowd cheered as Biden said he had a message for gun manufacturers: "I'm coming for you."

+ Why did Biden win? The endorsement of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) was certainly a big deal for Biden in South Carolina. But, I think so was this answer during a CNN town hall on Wednesday evening, as Biden wove together the pain in the aftermath of the Emanuel AME shootings and his own struggles after the death of his son, Beau. On the campaign trail, Biden talks a lot about Beau's death, and the tragic death of his first wife and daughter in December of 1972 - just before he was to be sworn in as a Senator from Delaware. Those are hushed moments at Biden events, as you can feel the people almost reaching out to him. It's a connection with the crowd in real time which you don't often see at a campaign event.

+ What I didn't see. It used to be that the Confederate Flag was omnipresent in South Carolina. It flew on the grounds of the state Capitol, starting in 1962. And it was in a lot of places around the Palmetto State. But in 2015, then-Gov. Nikki Haley (R) pulled down the flag in the wake of the Emanuel AME killings. And just five years later, I have to say, I did not see a single Confederate Flag flying during my almost 1,000 miles of driving this past week. Even in very rural areas, I didn't see any. In fact, the only Confederate flag was the familiar big one just off I-85 on the Georgia side just past the South Carolina state line. I remember covering David Duke in 1992. Things are different now. "The Confederate Flag came down," Joe Biden said in his victory speech on Saturday night - as Biden was the only person I heard mention the flag during the primary campaign.

+ Curtis Mayfield makes a comeback. Every four years, I get to listen to a lot of music as I sit and wait for various campaign events to start. Every campaign has different songs. For example, waiting for Mike Bloomberg in Virginia on Saturday, I heard U2, Phil Collins, Fatboy Slim, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Pharrell Williams and more. Bernie Sanders had Neal Young and much more that afternoon, plus a an actual reggae band performing on stage. But there was another song that I keep hearing - especially at Biden events over the past week - and then I heard it while monitoring a Buttigieg event in Tennessee. "Move On Up" is from Curtis Mayfield, an influential R&B Artist of the 1960s and 70s. The song may be 50 years old, but it's getting plenty of play on the 2020 campaign trail.