The mystery of S. Carolina

Obama tries to woo a state 'too small to be a nation, too big to be an insane asylum'

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- This is a state of deep contradictions. It is the birthplace of comedian Stephen Colbert, social activists the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Marian Wright Edelman, soaring jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and the man who made baby boomers Twist, Chubby Checker. But it is also the home of the evangelical Bob Jones University and former Dixiecrat and Sen. Strom Thurmond. It was one of the 13 colonies to break away from British rule and demand liberty -- and the first to secede from the Union to protect its "peculiar institution" of slavery.

It is the state that has one of the largest African-American communities, yet the Confederate flag still rests on state Capitol grounds, flapping without apology behind a monument to a Reb soldier. Nearby is a statue of George Washington with a broken walking cane, left unrepaired to attest to the damage left by that rampaging Ohioan -- Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. South Carolinians understand their own contradictions and are wont to say their state is "too small to be a nation, but too big to be an insane asylum."

Although this is a very red state -- Republican governor, Republican U.S. senators, Republican state Senate and Republican state House -- it is an important state for Barack Obama on his mission to become the Democratic nominee for president. South Carolina will be the first Democratic southern primary state, and if Obama can get enough momentum here, he has a better chance to eclipse his rivals.

Since the majority of the African-American community here is Democrat -- 47 percent of the primary vote in the last presidential election was African-American -- Obama wants their support. But he also wants Democratic money, and he is in an exhaustive race with Hillary Clinton and John Edwards (who won the South Carolina primary last time) to get it.

And there is lots of money here, maybe not as much as New York or California or Illinois, but there are deep pockets. Last week, wealthy state senator and pastor Darrell Jackson got himself into hot water because he said he was going to endorse Clinton. Then it turned out his public relations firm was actually working for her. With a flock of 10,000 in his church, his influence is enormous.

Lawyer Steve Benjamin will also be tapped to contribute. He recalls throwing a fund-raising party at his house last presidential go-around for Edwards and raising $50,000. Benjamin, a 37-year-old African American, is the Democratic chair for Richland County -- influential, smart and politically ambitious himself. Although Obama consulted him on a visit here last weekend, it is not clear whom Benjamin will support -- he did attend two Obama rallies in Columbia and nearby Orangeburg. He also likes Clinton and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. But Benjamin allows the entry of two charismatic candidates, one woman, one African American, has "caused a paradigm shift in the way we think about politics in this country." And that, he says, "is a blessing."

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At the Virginia Democratic Party convention Saturday, Obama was the keynote speaker and attracted the biggest crowd ever -- 3,500. His political souvenir stand also attracted the most interest. People lined up to buy $20.08 T-shirts and $5 buttons. At the next table, Clinton's people were giving stuff away for free. ("She doesn't need the money," said the woman behind the table.) Asked if the John Edwards bumper stickers were free, the man behind that table shrugged. "No," he said with a tone of discouragement, "but just take one."