NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Using the grassroots strategy that worked for him in Iowa and New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders is betting that issues rather than name recognition will help him win over South Carolina’s minority voters — once considered Hillary Clinton’s “firewall” against a serious presidential challenge.
And, with the primary still more than a week away, black voters in the state appear to be giving the lesser-known Democratic presidential candidate a chance to speak to the issues that matter most to their community.
“In the South, it has never been about name recognition,” Wendell Gilliard, a state lawmaker and black Democrat, told FoxNews.com. “Sanders has a grassroots message that connects with grassroots people. That’s what counts in South Carolina. … Vivica Fox, Angela Bassett and other movie stars can campaign for Hillary. But I still feel the Bern.”
Clinton, to be sure, is taking nothing for granted. After Sanders met last week with Al Sharpton in New York, Clinton also was meeting Tuesday with civil rights leaders in Harlem and delivering a speech on racial injustice.
But there is a political maxim that holds candidates must visit the “barbershops, beauty salons and Bible studies” to hear what issues really matter to people, especially black voters.
And there, the Democratic race is still very much up for grabs.
In North Charleston, S.C., where nearly 50 percent of the population is black, and poverty and jobless rates exceed the national levels, the Diamond Cutz Barber Salon is known as the spot where locals come to get a trim and talk politics. Two weeks before the state’s Feb. 27 Democratic primary, the scene was more like a town hall, with the barbers and customers talking shop about the candidates and issues.
“If candidates are going to reach out to black voters, they have to reach out to the black youth,” said 37-year-old Shawn Seymour. “They are the ones who really need the help.”
Seymour seemed to lean Clinton while his barber, Robert McFadden, appeared more intrigued with the lesser-known Sanders and his concerns about women’s rights and LGBT issues.
Neither was willing to fully commit nor seemed impressed by either candidate’s growing list of endorsements, including rapper Killer Mike for Sanders.
“Killer Mike hasn’t dropped an album in years,” the 35-year-old McFadden said over the low hum of his electric clippers.
Both argued blacks too often feel like election-year pawns and candidates don’t realize the needs of the black community are unique.
“Politicians only come to the black folks when they whine or complain or want black votes,” Seymour said, “like my granddaddy used to say.”
Both seemed resigned to the fact the election will do little to help the local community, like homeless people now living in a tent city in downtown Charleston.
“There are some issues that are solely black,” McFadden said. “We want jobs.”
Hours later, in a debate with Clinton, Sanders acknowledged the black community has tremendous problems — including poverty and over-incarceration — but still described them as part of a “general economic issue.”