Change is in the air in SC - liveblogging speeches

So Obama won 55, Hillary 27, and Edwards 18. This means that about 3/4ths of the people who voted voted for change.

Damn, Obama is taking a lot of talking points from Edwards. One friend asled, "did Edwards just give Obama his victory speech and say, 'Hey man, you can take it?'" Lots of economic populism in here.

He seems really exhausted, and this is kind of a depressing speech. Obama doesn't even look happy. This is full of digs at Hillary, and not very subtle, like against those who would "say anything, do anything to win." He needs to bring it back to the hope. He doesn't look like it's a victory speech, he looks angry and upset.

He flat out looks like he's been crying. He has some lines like Dean, and the difference in perception by others is HUGE - between an angry white man and an angry black man.



Ok, he is finally getting into the swing of things, and he is getting cocky at the end. Damn, that line about the woman who worked for Strom Thurmond who doorknocked for him is good. Why is he only getting into the swing of things and upswing at the end? He has more heft and authority to his voice now, it's stronger. He only cracks a smile toward the end, and Michelle gets on the stage and she makes him smile more. She looks fantastic. Obama is saying something strongly in her ear.

It has some King references, some Edwards references, and lots of very patriotic imagery. almost a 30 percent victory, which is really impressive in a Southern state.

Wow, the turnout was expected to be 300,000 and it was over half a million! The CNN exit polling also shows:

# Obama took more than 80 percent of African-American vote, polls show
# He had support of nearly a quarter of white voters; Clinton, Edwards split remainder
# Polls showed Obama winning majorities across nearly all demographic groups
# Clinton won among voters older than 65, Obama won 18- to 64-year-olds

Edwards is speaking - he did much better than in Nevada, and he is to be congratulated. Edwards strangely looks less tired and angry than Obama even though he came in third. But he did manage to take a large chunk of voters woho would have gone Hillary. Edwards has a strong and upbeat message. He looks young and fresh but his message is not that interesting because he is saying lots of things he has said before. Nice, I am liking this double-teaming by Edwards and Obama. This is interesting because he's not bashing anyone.

OMG the other crazy thing is that ALL the CNN analysts have nice things to say about Obama. From Donna brazile to Bill Bennett to other people. NO ONE has said anything bad about him - I haven't seen this kind of "balanced" reporting since FOX News. LOLS! By the way, Billary's race-baiting has pushed Donna Brazile squarely into Obama's camp - Brazile is rattling off Obama's talking points on the politics of hope, bam bam bam. She doesn't have to say that she is pro Obama, it shows. Bill has really done her wrong on this.

hillary's voice in Tennessee is raw. She's PO'd. And what was the woman who introduced her wearing?!?! And why isn't she even speaking from South Carolina, such a diss. She's not even giving her speech from South Carolina, she clearly doesn't care. She even gave iowa the middle finger after she lost. She discarded South Carolina like last night's bad sushi, and how can we expect her to care about the rest of the country?!? Hillary is really pushing the Florida thing. It is kind of sad because even HER crowd doesn't laugh at her lame jokes. she is just not a funny woman. and her crowd isn't even fired up.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Now she;s trying to throw a bone to the students at young people in Tennessee when she had tried to prevent them from voting in Iowa. Who's the scary gothic blond chick behind her. The people behind her look totally bored. They look like they are trying to just stay awake. (!!!) What the fuck is she talking about? We've been privileged and benefited from what? This is MUCH more boring than Edward's speech

OH MY GOD, Wolf Blitzer just rudely cut her off and minimized her on the screen saying "Hillary is now going into her stump speech"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then CNN flashed a sign saying "To continue watching Clinton live, go to cnn.politics.com" I have not seen anything that funny on tv in a really long time.

Damn, Carl Bernstein hates Hillar calling it "one of the worst nights of her life."

Also even the white woman Gloria borger is saying that Obama has had HUGE turnout, and the guy next to her says that Obama's turnout has been bigger than McCain and huckabee combined.

John Edwards is doing live interview with Blitzer. Very Johnny Sunshine. Did a GREAT job on deflecting the Florida/Michigan DNC delegates question and got back to how he's in it for the people "who need a voice in this country." Wolf is giving him major softballs.

OMG, if Edwards isn't AG, and Dean can't stay as DNC Chair, then I want Edwards for DNC Chair.

Plus, Obama got endorsed by Caroline Kennedy in the NYT: A President Like My Father.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Sweet. PLus apparently Hillary is scared of losing Teddy Kennedy to Obamania.

and Bob herbert is pisssssssed.