In January, Barack Obama needed a win. He showed he could compete in Iowa, but pundits said his momentum was gone after a loss in New Hampshire.

And then came South Carolina’s Democratic primary, where Obama was able to draw on the strength he had been building in the state, and Orangeburg, since 2004.

Before Election Day in 2004, when Obama won a seat as a U.S. senator and after his electric speech at the Democratic National Convention, Claflin hosted the aspiring lawmaker. The event foreshadowed what was to come.

Receiving two standing ovations, Obama was introduced by now-U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn.

“He found a cause that he believed in and was willing to work for,” Clyburn said. “He has registered more than 150,000 voters, and he entered public life because he wanted to help people. He has spent most of his young life helping people. The next senator from Illinois, Mr. Barack Obama!”

Obama’s message then was much the same as now.

Of those wondering why he wanted to be in politics, he said, “I understood their cynicism in this world where politics is treated like a business instead of a mission. But there is another tradition in politics. The tradition where we recognize that the world is connected as a people. If a child in Orangeburg cannot read, I am affected by it. If an elderly parent in Chicago has to decide between medicine or food, it affects you. Those obligations that we feel must not be expressed only in our families and communities. They must be reflected in our government. I am my brother’s keeper.”

He continued: “We are the first generation in a very long time that is passing on to its children a world that is a little poorer and a little meaner. Now is the time to participate in the political process.”

By the time he returned to Claflin in February 2007, Obama was greeted with a packed crowd and chants of “Run, Barack, Run.”

Obama’s election odyssey began in earnest at the home of the Bulldogs. In April 2007, Obama returned to Orangeburg to duel with the likes of Democratic heavyweights Sen. Hillary Clinton and former vice presidential candidate John Edwards during the election cycle’s first presidential debate at South Carolina State University.

Clyburn was responsible for bringing last year’s debate to his alma mater.

“It did so much to define this whole campaign in many, many ways. ... It kind of teed things up,” he said.

He says the S.C. State debate was huge not only for the campaign, but for the university and Orangeburg.

“It was phenomenal. The amount of goodwill and good press received by Orangeburg County, S.C. State and everybody and everything associated with that debate is priceless. ... The county benefitted from the national spotlight in ways, many of which cannot be measured,” said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg.

State Sen. John Matthews, D-Bowman, believes the discussions Orangeburg citizens had with candidates on the issues of infrastructure, health care and education created the framework for the topics in the debate.

“That shaped the debate and will help shape the next administration,” he said.

And then last winter, Obama faced the South Carolina primary after a win in Iowa and a disappointing loss to Clinton in New Hampshire.

The stage was set: The Palmetto State would be integral to any candidate’s chance at the nomination.

Only days before the Jan. 26 primary, Obama returned to S.C. State with a flock of stars including Usher, Kerry Washington and Chris Tucker.

Obama also received a lot of assistance in Orangeburg through an extensive army of volunteers that organized support in neighborhoods and communities. The volunteers conducted traditional get-out-the-vote techniques such as phone banks and knocking on doors.

Obama supporters like Elizabeth Wilkins, his Orangeburg field director during the primary, had several sleepless nights in the days preceding the primary.

In fact, Orangeburg County accounted for 4 percent of Obama’s total votes in the primary, which he won with 55 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Clinton and 18 for Edwards.

Only the more populous counties of Greenville, Richland and Charleston cast more votes for the president-elect than Orangeburg.

Cobb-Hunter noted the threads in the fabric represented all walks of life in the campaign.

“You had old and young, black and white, those from one end of the economic scale to other. ... Quite frankly, Orangeburg was an example of the campaign not being about Barack Obama but about the participation of ordinary people in the process,” she said.

Clyburn noted that Obama carried all but two counties in the state in the January primary. When he learned Obama captured every corner of Orangeburg County, he said “Orangeburg played a bigger role than one would think.”

What’s the future of presidential politics and Orangeburg County?

“There’s no reason why Orangeburg could not play a bigger role,” Clyburn said.

The enormous win gave Obama momentum going into the Super Tuesday contests, and then on to later primaries.

While Obama failed to carry South Carolina in the general election, he easily won Orangeburg County with 69 percent of the vote. Only in Allendale County did a greater percentage of voters support Obama.

Matthews noted Orangeburg County’s reputation for being a Democratic stronghold within a red state.

He believes Republicans may even start visiting Orangeburg because they will have to broaden their reach to be successful in future cycles.

Looking back at the journey to last Tuesday’s historic election, he recalled that Orangeburg played host to every major Democratic presidential candidate and former President Bill Clinton on two occasions.

“I think we will be on the radar for Democrats to come to this county. In 2012, you’ll see them again. In 2016, you’ll see them again,” Matthews said.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060. Comment on this and other stories at www.TheTandD.com.

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