For veteran Democratic campaigners in South Carolina, Hannibal's Kitchen is a must-visit.
As Biden's surrogates tried to drum up excitement about Saturday's primaries, it made sense for them to stop by a publicity establishment where photos of liberal and black celebrities like Pharrell Williams, Angela Bassett, Danny Glover and Hillary Clinton are on display.
However, sponsors responded only moderately to the request of Austin Davis, Pennsylvania's first black lieutenant governor, to send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to the White House.
Politico reports,
A group of 16 white Danish political tourists, dining on plates of crab rice and turkey wings, listened curiously, but remained focused on their meal. The only shouts came from the local Democratic activists in attendance.
Party officials have spent recent days traveling across the state to engage black voters. However, the participation rate in some of these events was small, as many of them were attended by party officials. Among black voters outside of party-supported events, few appear to be excited or even informed about the upcoming election. Not only are they unenthusiastic about Biden, but they don't see the primaries as a competition at all.
When asked if he expects the district to look the same way it did in 2020 when nearly 63,000 voters cast ballots in the competitive primary that helped Biden win the nomination, Skardon said he doesn't expect it to look the same way it did then. .
“As excited as we are to go vote, the argument about why it's important is kind of a political process argument,” he adds. [and] “It's always difficult to get people to vote on process arguments.”
Clay Middleton, a Charleston-based senior adviser to Biden's reelection campaign, acknowledges that there is greater pressure on party officials to deliver votes than voters are motivated to show up to the polls.
“The average person is not in tune because… there is not the urgency or crisis that there was the last time,” Middleton tells Politico. “Now it's about those who have benefited and are feeling the results of this administration [their] Appreciation by vote.”
When it comes to the presidential primaries, the party is clearly trying to inform voters. Democrats in South Carolina have explored any leverage they can use to motivate voters, especially voters of color.
Among the issues they have had to address is whether Democrats should forego voting in the Democratic primaries at all, and instead cast ballots in the Republican primaries that will be held weeks later.
There is a belief that if Democrats cast ballots in the Republican primary to help former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, it could help thwart former President Donald Trump from winning the state. But state law prohibits voters from participating in both primaries.
Jay Parmley, executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party, is among those trying to convince Democrats this is a bad idea.
“This is stupid,” Parmley said of the strategy. “We are not stopping Donald Trump, and the Republicans are not stopping Donald Trump,” he said. “Democrats who think they're going to mess with the Republican primaries don't make any sense.”
Politico newspaper reported that some are leaning towards Trump after the complete coup against Biden during his presidency, including Joshua Holmes and Keisha Batt, who said that their votes in 2016 were in favor of Hillary Clinton and their votes in 2020 were in favor of Biden.
