CHARLESTON, South Carolina--Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won the endorsement of an influential black congressman from South Carolina on Wednesday, which could prove pivotal as he competes with national front-runner Bernie Sanders for the support of the state's African-American voters in Saturday's primary.
Recent opinion polls show Biden, once the leading candidate in the race to be the party's candidate in November, losing ground nationally with black voters to the surging senator from Vermont. U.S. Representative James Clyburn's endorsement carries weight in a state where African Americans make up about 60% of the Democratic electorate and where Biden is counting on a good showing after a fourth-place finish in Iowa, fifth place in New Hampshire and second in Nevada.
Sanders, a democratic socialist, has taken command of the Democratic race after his resounding win in Nevada last week. Three days after South Carolina's primary, voters in 14 states will go to the polls for the crucial Super Tuesday contests. At an event in North Charleston on Wednesday, Sanders touted his momentum and went after Biden by name, saying he would not be able to generate the turnout needed to defeat Republican President Donald Trump on Nov. 3.
"We have come a long, long way," Sanders said of his position in the top two of the state's most recent opinion polls, along with Biden.
The South Carolina and upcoming Super Tuesday elections come amid unprecedented spending on advertising by candidates and their supporters. Led by the two billionaires in the race - progressive activist Tom Steyer and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg - campaigns and political action committees (PACs) backing them have spent nearly $900 million on TV and digital ads since January 2019, according to the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks campaign spending at Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
