Biden to test appeal to black voters in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Joe Biden will have his first chance this weekend to demonstrate whether he can attract the type of diverse coalition that twice sent Barack Obama to the White House.

The former vice president has opened his presidential campaign with explicit appeals to white, working-class voters across the Midwest, pledging his allegiance to unions and promising to rebuild the middle class. His premier trip to South Carolina as a 2020 contender today will gauge whether his message will resonate among black voters whose support will be crucial in winning the nation’s first Southern primary.

Proving that he can win over black voters would be an essential part of Biden’s argument that he is the most electable Democrat in the race. Obama was the last Democrat to win the White House, and his success was based in part on his ability to unite black and white voters against his Republican foes.

But Biden is facing plenty of competition in South Carolina. At least 15 Democratic candidates have held more than 100 events here so far this year. Two of his rivals — Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey — are black and are making explicit appeals to African American voters. Biden is aiming to distinguish himself by relying on his decadeslong ties to the state and the goodwill he generated during eight years as Obama’s deputy.

“He is a known quantity in this state,” state Sen. Gerald Malloy, a member of South Carolina’s Legislative Black Caucus and chairman of this year’s state Democratic convention, said of Biden. “I think that there’s a longing … for the service of President Obama, and Vice President Biden right at his side.”

Obama remains popular among Democrats in the state, where he soundly defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Much of that support came from minority voters, who comprise most of South Carolina’s Democratic primary voters.

Biden has maintained South Carolina ties dating back decades with his enduring friendships with fellow long-serving senators Strom Thurmond and Fritz Hollings, both of whom Biden has eulogized. He and his family have vacationed regularly in a resort area near Charleston.

U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat who is the highest ranking African American in Congress, said Biden appears to be the candidate to beat in his home state.

“I was home for two weeks … and I saw that a lot of people told me that they were waiting to see what Biden was going to do,” Clyburn said in an interview.