Obama Grabs Double-Digit Lead in SC

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama holds a 42% to 25% lead over Hillary Clinton in the upcoming South Carolina primary, finds a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released today. Race looks to be a key factor, with African-Americans, who made up just over half the poll sample, favoring Obama over Clinton 65% to 16%. Among whites, Clinton and John Edwards are nearly tied with 33% and 32%, while Obama trails at 18%.

"Obama is doing very well among African-Americans, but getting a decent share of the white vote in a three-way race," commented a pollster. Most of the polling was done before Monday night's ill-tempered debate, when Edwards urged Clinton and Obama to stop squabbling. Preliminary polling done after the debate showed Edwards had made some slight gains.