Joe Bidens faltering 2020 primary campaign was abruptly rescued in South Carolina, where black voters, heavily influenced by Rep.
Jim Clyburn, effectively handed him the nomination and, ultimately, the White House.
According to The Hill, civil rights activist Al Sharpton now wants that same state elevated as the permanent gatekeeper of the Democratic presidential field, urging party leaders to keep South Carolina first on the 2028 primary calendar. Sharpton clearly understands that empowering a heavily Democratic, majority-minority electorate at the front of the line would give the partys progressive wing and identity-politics machine even more leverage over who emerges as the nominee.
In a press release from the South Carolina Democratic Primary, Sharpton argued that Black voters have shown up for the Democratic Party again and again. He went on to insist that South Carolina hasnt just cast votes in the presidential primary, time after time; it decided the nomination, and ultimately the presidency, warning that If South Carolina gets quietly bumped after one cycle of convenient praise, that sends a message louder than any speech at a Democratic dinner: the gratitude was performance, not policy.
Democrats know who stands to gain from this setup, with Vice President Kamala Harris already leading in some early 2028 polling and poised to benefit from a front-loaded, heavily black primary electorate. According to Census data, black residents account for roughly 25 percent of South Carolinas population, nearly double the national black population share of about 12 percent, giving race-based coalition politics an outsized role in the process.
Members of the Democratic National Committee are meeting in Washington, D.C., this week to decide which states will vote first in 2028, a decision that could tilt the playing field toward Harris or California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Yet the partys socialist flank is openly pining for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, with Democratic Socialists of America activists signaling they would be thrilled if she entered the race, guaranteeing that whatever the outcome, the 2028 Democratic primary will be less a contest of ideas and more a spectacle of competing left-wing factions.
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