According to Obama’s campaign, he beat his opponents because the voters wanted change.
“Tonight was a rejection of the politics of the past,” said Robert Gibbs, the communications director for Obama’s campaign. He added: “South Carolina voters spoke for a politics that will bring us together.”
According to CBS News’ exit polls, 54 percent of voters felt that what mattered most was a candidate that could bring about the needed change. Of that 54 percent of voters, three-quarters had voted for Obama.
Obama kept to his message after the victory. He did not let up against his opponents, either.
“There are real differences between the candidates. We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We’re looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington – a status quo that extends beyond any particular party,” Obama said to supporters.
He would add: “And right now, that status quo is fighting back with everything it’s got.”
In addressing the crowd, Obama said that this election would not be easy due to both distractions and drama. “We are up against the idea that it’s acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election,” Obama explained to the crowd.
He would continue by saying: “It’s the politics that uses religion as a wedge, and patriotism as a bludgeon. A politics that tells us that we have to think, act, and even vote within the confines of the categories that supposedly define us.”
Barack Obama was determined to show that his win was more than just the African-American vote. He would speak about the diversity of supporters and the people he met while traveling around South Carolina.
“I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina,” he had said in regards to race and diversity.
But, Obama made his message: “The choice in this election is not between regions or religions or genders. It’s not about rich versus poor; young versus old; and it is not about black versus white. It’s about the past versus the future.”