Barack Obama Wins South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. - NBC News declared Sen. Barack Obama as the projected winner in South Carolina's Democratic primary.

Obama won South Carolina by a substantial margin, with Hillary Rodham Clinton running second and John Edwards third, NBC reported.

Obama routed Clinton in the racially charged primary, regaining campaign momentum in the prelude to a Feb. 5 coast-to-coast competition for more than 1,600 Democratic National Convention delegates.

Edwards' placing came as a sharp setback in the state where he was born and scored a primary victory in his first presidential campaign four years ago.

Interviews at the exit polls showed about half the voters were black, according to interviews provided by The Associated Press. Four out of five supported Obama. Black women turned out in particularly large numbers.

Clinton and Edwards each won roughly 40 percent of the white vote, with about 25 percent going to Obama, the first-term Illinois senator.

The victory was Obama's first since he won the kick-off Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Clinton, a New York senator and former first lady, scored an upset in the New Hampshire primary a few days later. They split the Nevada caucuses, she winning the turnout race, he gaining a one-delegate margin.

In a historic race, Clinton hopes to become the first woman to occupy the White House, and Obama is the strongest black contender in history.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22854377/