A thumpin' from Obama, in Strom's backyard

The MSNBC blog "first thoughts" says about Barack Obama's convincing primary win in South Carolina:

Obama’s victory last night in South Carolina was by the biggest margin we’ve seen so far in a contested race this primary season. Obama did it by winning about 80% of the African-American vote, as well as about a quarter of the white vote. Sure, his share of the white vote there dropped some 10-plus points compared to other states. But remember, this is the South, and the white vote was always going to be a little more difficult for Obama to capture southern whites.

Plenty of blame has been aired for such a convincing failure of the Clinton machine: their mud-slinging, Bill Clinton's over-the-top criticism, and general negativity. Despite these, or as some say, because of these tactics, Barack Obama has done very well indeed. In Strom Thurmond's backyard, too!
There may be many reasons for Barack Obama's popularity, but the simplest, most obvious one was summarized by JFK's daughter Caroline Kennedy in her Op-ed in the New York Times today:

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

And this is why so many people are drawn to Obama. Amen.