Obama wins big in South Carolina

And speaking of Barack Obama ... he has just won a crushing victory in the South Carolina Democratic primary. Here is the AP report:

Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Obama winning 55 percent in the three-way race, Clinton gaining 27 percent and Edwards at 18 percent.

Obama also gained at least 19 convention delegates and Clinton won at least nine and Edwards two. Another 15 remained to be allocated on the basis of the results.

According to some early exit polls:

African-Americans: Obama 81%, Clinton 17%, Edwards 1%
African-American women: Obama 82%, Clinton 17%, Edwards 0%
Whites: Edwards 39%, Clinton 36%, Obama 24%
Edwards winning white men, Clinton white women.

Democratic voters were about 55% black vs. 43% white (1% Hispanic) ... and--this is striking--61% female vs. 39% male. Obama won 54% of both male and female voters. Obama's support was strongest among younger voters, but he won a majority in every age category except 65 and older. (For more detailed results from the exit polls, see HERE.)

Once again, Democratic turnout exceeded Republican turnout. Over 520,000 votes were cast in the Democratic primary, compared with about 446,000 votes in last Saturday's Republican primary. Furthermore, voter turnout in today's Democratic primary was about 85% higher than in the 2004 Democratic primary, in which about 280,000 people voted.

A video of Obama's victory speech HERE.

It may take a little while for the larger effects and implications of today's vote to become apparent. Meanwhile, it's on to Super-Duper Tuesday (February 5).

--Jeff Weintraub