Fresh Off Win, Clinton Gears For S.C.

Fresh off a caucus victory in Nevada and with the South Carolina primary looming ahead of her, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was back in her home state on Sunday.

Clinton received a standing ovation from the congregation at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, founded by a group of Ethiopian sea traders more than 200 years ago. Rev. Calvin Butts, a Clinton supporter, introduced her as someone who "has been our friend."

In her remarks, Clinton told churchgoers how pleased she was to be there on the weekend of Martin Luther King Day, and recounted how she had gone with her church youth group to hear him speak.

"It was a transforming experience for me," she said. "He made it very clear that the Civil Rights movement was about economic justice."

Clinton has come under fire for being quoted as saying King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and has since reiterated her admiration of King and his work.

Clinton won in Nevada over Sen. Barack Obama, garnering support from women and making a strong showing among Hispanics. But Obama won among black voters, who could make up more than half of the voters in South Carolina, and picked up more delegates despite getting fewer overall votes than Clinton, because of the proportional manner in which that state awards delegates.

Obama: South Carolina "Absolutely Critical"

Obama said Sunday that South Carolina's primary will be "absolutely critical" to his campaign.

In a radio interview with the Rev. Jesse Jackson broadcast by Chicago station WVON-AM, the Illinois senator said Clinton edged him out in the popular vote in Nevada's caucuses because she did well in Las Vegas and the rest of Clark County, the state's most densely populated area. By contrast, Obama said, he did well throughout Nevada - and came away with 13 delegates versus Clinton's 12.

"We had a hard fought battle in Nevada," Obama said in the radio interview. "We feel very strong about our showing."

He said immigration, education and the economy will be important issues in South Carolina, which holds its Democratic primary Saturday.

"We think we're moving in the right direction, but we've got a lot of work to do. South Carolina, obviously, is going to be absolutely critical to our success," Obama said.

Black voters are expected to play a critical role in South Carolina. In the radio interview, Obama called for federal intervention and investment to address racial inequalities.

"Racial reconciliation doesn't occur just by being nice to each other," he said. "We have to address the deep-seated and long-lasting legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. You see it in South Carolina. You see the inequality in schools. You see the inequality in health care. And unless the federal government steps in and makes a serious commitment, we're going to see the same kinds of unequal outcomes that we've been seeing for so many years."

Later, Obama spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. launched the civil rights movement. He called for unity to overcome America's "moral deficit."

In a visit steeped in symbolism - coming a day before the King holiday - Obama evoked the civil rights leader's legacy to a packed house of 2,000 mostly black worshippers.

"Before there was King the icon and his 'magnificent dream,' there was King the young preacher and a people who found themselves suffering under the yolk of oppression," Obama said.

Obama also used the pulpit to take blacks to task for failing to embrace gays, immigrants and Jews.

"None of our hands are entirely clean," Obama said.

"If we are honest with ourselves we'll acknowledge that our own community has not always been true to King's vision of a beloved community," he continued to scattered applause. "We can no longer afford to build ourselves up by tearing each other down."

But the congregation rose to its feet as Obama harkened back to the civil rights struggle that he said had made his campaign possible.

The Illinois senator offered what has become a familiar campaign message centering on hope.

"The odds of me standing here today are so small, so remote, that I couldn't have gotten here without some hope," he said.

He drew raucous applause as he referred to his own struggles growing up without a father.

"I got in trouble when I was a teenager, got into some things that people now like to talk about," he said, an apparent reference to his acknowledgement that he used drugs when he was
younger.

Obama said Americans must get beyond political squabbling to heal the racial divide and to take on critical issues like the war in Iraq and healthcare.

"Unity is the great need of the hour - that's what Dr. King said," Obama said. "Not because it sounds pleasant or because it makes us feel good but because it's the only way we can overcome the essential deficit that exists in this country."

Edwards: Democrats Need To Pick Their Strongest Candidate To Beat GOP Nominee

Appearing on CBS News' Face The Nation, former Senator John Edwards said the focus of voters should be about backing a candidate who would be the strongest against the Republicans' eventual nominee.

Edwards said that in the wake of Sen. John McCain's victories in New Hampshire and now South Carolina, which solidify his position going into later primaries, Democrats could see him as their eventual opponent.

"What we need to think about as a party is, who are we going to put up against who now looks like it may be John McCain on the other side?" he said. "This is a guy who's a great advocate for campaign-finance reform. So are we going to put a candidate against him who's taken lots of money from lobbyists and PACs?

"And he's also a very strong candidate with a long record, including an extraordinary record of military service. We have to put up somebody who's strong against him, and somebody who represents change in a meaningful way."

Edwards congratulated Sen. Clinton on her Nevada win, noting that he got his "butt kicked" in the race. But he did not let a third-place showing deter him.

"What you learn from that is … you've just got to get up and start fighting, and particularly when you're fighting for the cause of your life, which is making sure that people who don't have a voice get a voice, and fighting for the middle class and low-income families. That's what my life is about."