On to South Carolina and...Racial Politics!

We're far from a clear leader in Iowa or New Hampshire, but candidates are wasting no time heading to South Carolina. Obama was there Saturday, Chris Dodd was planning on attending the same day but backed out at the last minute, instead sending a surrogate to "other planned events," John McCain made a visit yesterday and Hillary Clinton will be there today.

Obama visited Claftin University, an historically black college and Hillary will visit Allen University, a -you guessed it- historically black college.

It was Obama's first trip to South Carolina, and that's all it took to get racial politics started according to the Charlotte Observer. Of course, it was just a few days ago that a black South Carolina legislator, Senator Robert Ford, concluded that Obama winning the White House would lead to losses for Democrats both in Congress and gubernatorial races.

According to The State, responding to Ford's remarks was the highpoint of Obama's speech, and in fact it does currently headline Obama's website.

"Everybody is entitled to their opinion," Obama said, "but I know this: That when folks were saying, 'We're going to march for our freedom,' somebody said, 'You can't do that.' And somebody said, 'Don't sit at the lunch counter, don't share our table.' We can't do that. We can't." Which led to the crowd chanting "Yes We Can."

Is this significant beyond the fact that we have an African-American with a legitimate shot at winning the White House? Yes. South Carolina, an early primary state, might be essential in determining who the winner is and, more importantly, half of South Carolina democratic primary voters are black. Whether they follow Obama or Hillary in that state could determine the outcome.

"I don't see [Obama] beating Mrs. Clinton among blacks here," said Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen, who closely follows S.C. presidential politics.

South Carolina will be the state to watch - and not just for Democrats. According to the State Party's Website, no Republican has ever lost the South Carolina primary and gone on to win the party's nomination.

Debates are already planned, with the Democrats on April 26th (aired on MSNBC) and Republicans on May 15th (aired on FoxNews Channel).