By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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COLUMBIA, S.C. - The United States has never elected a president who looks like Gladys Pressley Morgan.
This year, though, she has a choice between one candidate of her race - Sen. Barack Obama - and another of her gender - Sen. Hillary Clinton.
But when she steps into the voting booth next week, Morgan said skin color and gender will be the last thing on her mind.
"That has nothing to do with who I'm going to vote for," said Morgan, who lives in Columbia. "There always has to be a first something, but that's not my issue. I'm voting on health care, education and taxes."
Political analysts say African-American women voters could largely determine the outcome of next week's first-in-the-South Democratic primary. If history is a guide, that important voting block will account for more than a third of all Democratic voters.
Much of the coverage of the race has portrayed their choice between Clinton and Obama - former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards attracts almost no support from this group, polls show - as a choice only between race and sex.
But in interviews with more than a dozen African-American women across the state, they universally rejected that notion, calling it overly simplistic and, to some degree, insulting.
"It would be history to have the first African-American or the first woman. However, I'm looking for change, and at what they have to offer that's a new direction for our country," said Jennifer Wright, an African-American voter from Camden.
In particular, these voters said, the choice between Obama and Clinton comes down to their stance on the same issues that many Democrats of all races care about - ending the war in Iraq, health care, the economy and more.
Improving education is also important; In South Carolina, as in many southern states, schools with large black populations perform less well than majority white schools. And in a state with a troubled history of disenfranchising black voters, equal access to the polls is also a key issue.
If African-American women voters are truly looking beyond race and gender, it would run counter to previous elections featuring politicians who broke gender or color barriers, said Bruce Ransom, a political scientist at Clemson University who has studied African-American voting trends.
"In this day and age, we're supposed to be color blind. They might say that's not affecting their vote, but I'm quite sure that, in their heart of hearts, the historical aspect is important, whether they say it or not," said Ransom.
It's also possible, he said, that because both Obama and Clinton would shatter a key equality barrier, it has lessened the importance of race and gender to these voters.
Lonnie Randolph, Jr., president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said he found the notion that African-American voters would vote purely on superficial qualities like skin color or gender offensive.
"African-American voters are just as complex as any other group. We vote our best interests, and we are smart enough to vote on issues that matter to us," he said.
As they criss-cross the state in advance of the Jan. 26 primary, both Obama and Clinton have paid particular attention to African-American women, making overtly historical appeals.
So far, Obama is winning the battle for African-American women, polls show. Amongst all voters, Clinton is leading Obama in South Carolina 42 percent to 37 percent, with Edwards pulling down 11 percent, a Washington Post-ABC News poll released earlier this week showed. But Obama attracted the support of 59 percent of African-American women, with Clinton pulling 35 percent, and Edwards two percent, according to the poll.
Clinton, acknowledging that some African-American women may be torn between gender and race, has made the case that the struggle for equality by women and blacks is equally important.
"The only way forward on behalf of justice and equality is together. We cannot stand apart. Because while we may be fighting different injustices, we are fighting for the same cause," she said at an African-American Presbyterian church in Columbia on Sunday.
The issue of race has become the dominant narrative in the battle for South Carolina over the last week, following comments from Clinton that some prominent African-Americans viewed as diminishing the role Dr. Martin Luther King played in the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
As race became a larger part of the campaign, both Obama and Clinton issued appeals to turn the focus to other issues, something many African-American leaders in the state welcomed.
"I think that people are talking about race versus gender, when we ought to be talking about democrats versus republicans, when we ought to be...comparing health care programs," Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the top-ranking African-American in Congress, told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose earlier this week.
Gladys Carter, an African-American voter from Columbia, agreed.
"I would like it not to come down to a race issue. I would like it to come down to who would serve this country best," she said.
(Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668)
This year, though, she has a choice between one candidate of her race - Sen. Barack Obama - and another of her gender - Sen. Hillary Clinton.
But when she steps into the voting booth next week, Morgan said skin color and gender will be the last thing on her mind.
"That has nothing to do with who I'm going to vote for," said Morgan, who lives in Columbia. "There always has to be a first something, but that's not my issue. I'm voting on health care, education and taxes."
Political analysts say African-American women voters could largely determine the outcome of next week's first-in-the-South Democratic primary. If history is a guide, that important voting block will account for more than a third of all Democratic voters.
Much of the coverage of the race has portrayed their choice between Clinton and Obama - former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards attracts almost no support from this group, polls show - as a choice only between race and sex.
But in interviews with more than a dozen African-American women across the state, they universally rejected that notion, calling it overly simplistic and, to some degree, insulting.
"It would be history to have the first African-American or the first woman. However, I'm looking for change, and at what they have to offer that's a new direction for our country," said Jennifer Wright, an African-American voter from Camden.
In particular, these voters said, the choice between Obama and Clinton comes down to their stance on the same issues that many Democrats of all races care about - ending the war in Iraq, health care, the economy and more.
Improving education is also important; In South Carolina, as in many southern states, schools with large black populations perform less well than majority white schools. And in a state with a troubled history of disenfranchising black voters, equal access to the polls is also a key issue.
If African-American women voters are truly looking beyond race and gender, it would run counter to previous elections featuring politicians who broke gender or color barriers, said Bruce Ransom, a political scientist at Clemson University who has studied African-American voting trends.
"In this day and age, we're supposed to be color blind. They might say that's not affecting their vote, but I'm quite sure that, in their heart of hearts, the historical aspect is important, whether they say it or not," said Ransom.
It's also possible, he said, that because both Obama and Clinton would shatter a key equality barrier, it has lessened the importance of race and gender to these voters.
Lonnie Randolph, Jr., president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said he found the notion that African-American voters would vote purely on superficial qualities like skin color or gender offensive.
"African-American voters are just as complex as any other group. We vote our best interests, and we are smart enough to vote on issues that matter to us," he said.
As they criss-cross the state in advance of the Jan. 26 primary, both Obama and Clinton have paid particular attention to African-American women, making overtly historical appeals.
So far, Obama is winning the battle for African-American women, polls show. Amongst all voters, Clinton is leading Obama in South Carolina 42 percent to 37 percent, with Edwards pulling down 11 percent, a Washington Post-ABC News poll released earlier this week showed. But Obama attracted the support of 59 percent of African-American women, with Clinton pulling 35 percent, and Edwards two percent, according to the poll.
Clinton, acknowledging that some African-American women may be torn between gender and race, has made the case that the struggle for equality by women and blacks is equally important.
"The only way forward on behalf of justice and equality is together. We cannot stand apart. Because while we may be fighting different injustices, we are fighting for the same cause," she said at an African-American Presbyterian church in Columbia on Sunday.
The issue of race has become the dominant narrative in the battle for South Carolina over the last week, following comments from Clinton that some prominent African-Americans viewed as diminishing the role Dr. Martin Luther King played in the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
As race became a larger part of the campaign, both Obama and Clinton issued appeals to turn the focus to other issues, something many African-American leaders in the state welcomed.
"I think that people are talking about race versus gender, when we ought to be talking about democrats versus republicans, when we ought to be...comparing health care programs," Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., the top-ranking African-American in Congress, told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose earlier this week.
Gladys Carter, an African-American voter from Columbia, agreed.
"I would like it not to come down to a race issue. I would like it to come down to who would serve this country best," she said.
(Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668)