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Preview of South Dakota Primary

By Jeralyn

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At an appearance in Sioux Falls Monday night, Hillary Clinton said she is getting ready to begin the next phase of her campaign -- convincing superdelegates that she is more electable in November and better able to lead the country as President. This was her 5th visit to the state.

Clinton hinted that she isn’t ready to abandon her campaign, even though Sen. Barack Obama leads her in delegates. Clinton has no chance of making up her deficit in the remaining contests.

But Clinton and her supporters will make the case to superdelegates that her lead in the popular vote, and her wins in several key states, make her the strongest candidate. “We have a very strong case to make that I am in the best position to take back the White House,” she said.

From a briefing book (pdf) prepared for the primary on South Dakota: [More...]

The primary is closed. There are 195,063 registered Democrats among the states 796,000 residents. There are 15 pledged delegates and 8 superdelegates.

Both candidates have campaigned there, with Bill, Hillary or Chelsea making 30 appearances. At least one of them was in the state every day in the past week.

South Dakota is a decidedly Republican state. it has voted for a Democratic President only four times -- in 1896, 1932, 1936 and 1964.

Obama has the support of Tom Daschle, who was defeated in his re-election bid in 2004; Former Sen. George McGovern, who failed to carry South Dakota when he ran for President; and Reps. Stephanie Herzeth-Sandlin and Tim Johnson.

South Dakota's largest paper, the Argus Leader, endorsed Hillary. [More...]

It's largely rural. Think corn, soybeans and cattle.

Farming and ranching are big, but the state has no state or coporate income tax so banking has been growing. (If you have a Citbank credit card, that's why your payment gets mailed to South Dakota.)

Population has been declining in rural counties, but growing in suburban Lincoln County. The state's population is 796,000.

The state is 88% white and 1% African American. The Native American population is 8.8%. Both candidates have been campaigning for the Native American vote, promising health care and other financial solutions.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 03, 2008 (boomark / email).