South Carolina Primary Election for Democrats

Tonight, Jan. 26, marks an important primary election for the Democratic Party and its presidential nomination process.

Democratic Party voters in the southern U.S. state of South Carolina are currently voting their choice for presidential nominee. The main choices are Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and former Senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee, John Edwards of South Carolina (Sen. Edwards was born in South Carolina but represented North Carolina in the U.S. Senate).

The polling data in advance of the election shows that Sen. Obama has a double-digit lead in several surveys over Sen. Clinton and John Edwards.

Most analysts here believe it is critical that Sen. Obama come away with a significant victory as he has lost the last two contests in Nevada and New Hampshire. Sen. Edwards also needs a win in the state where he was born. Sen. Clinton has victories in New Hampshire, Nevada, and a contest in Michigan in which she was the only candidate and with no delegates at stake.

I'll have a lot more on the process and what delegates are later but this should be an interesting race. Results on the VOA webpage (www.voanews.com) and I'll have details on it Sunday.