Biden sinks in South Carolina as Democrats reject incumbent President

President Joe Biden badly lost contests in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2020 before pulling out of a dive in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary by raking in 262,336 ballots, which was less than a majority but he could not get half that number of votes on Saturday when he went up against Congressman Dean Phillips and best-selling author Marianne Williamson.

Biden won 126,321 votes compared to just 2,726 for Marianne Williamson and 2,239 for Dean Phillips, according to unofficial results from the South Carolina Election Commission.

Biden seems heavily favored to win renomination, but his low approval ratings are driving concerns that he could get clobbered in a general election and his largely unknown challengers are often confronted by unfair circumstances.

Saturday’s vote was expected to exhibit Biden’s strength among Black voters, who helped propel him to victory and made up 56 percent of Democratic primary participants in the state four years ago, but the low turnout gave Biden less than a quarter of the 539,263 South Carolina Democrats that cast ballots in the previous presidential primary.

The mainstream media has neglected Biden’s competitors and even the incidents of cheating that drove Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to quit the Democratic Party have failed to garner any attention, while journalists engage in a frenzy over disgraced former President Donald Trump’s various scandals.

The distance between Biden’s 48 percent in 2020 South Carolina was enough to infuse his flagging campaign with the energy to allow corporate media outlets to run wild with the story after smaller vote shares went to Senator Bernie Sanders, billionaire Tom Steyer, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and others.

Biden had suffered from losses in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, but his less-than overwhelmingly victory in the South Carolina primary fueled talk of a comeback that crowded out honest discussions about the progressive revolution inspired by Sanders in 2016 but was blunted by Senator Elizabeth Warren and other contenders that split off voters who want a more assertive Democratic platform.

So far, little energy has materialized behind the progressive agenda advocated by Williamson, who described Biden as the candidate of the status quo and said, “We don’t need more political car mechanics; the problem is we’re on the wrong road.”

“Americans are really suffering right now–60% living paycheck to paycheck, 40% don’t have $400 in the bank–and here we have the president in our party saying GDP growth is up, job growth is great. People are frustrated and they are fearful and they’re seeing wars around the world,” said Phillips, a Democratic congressman representing Minnesota. “I respect Joe Biden. He should have passed the torch. This was not a mission for me. But someone had to do this.”

Williamson has proposed an economic bill of rights for Americans, would enact a full-scale effort to reach 100% renewable energy in the U.S. and lower carbon emissions by 2035, and hopes to implement a holistic approach to address the underlying causes of crime.

“We are fighting to give voters a choice this election cycle — something that Democratic leadership across the country should be embracing if they truly value having a democratic election,” Phillips said.