Thread by @jmartNYT

NEW: SC is poised to be as important as Iowa/NH in ‘20 bc it’s the first black-majority contest & the last state before Super Tuesday

“It’s hard to construct a scenario where SC is not the gateway to the nomination” - @davidplouffe

w @AsteadWesley >

nytimes.com/2019/01/22/us/…

-CLYBURN sez Biden is the man to beat,top Ds are anxiously waiting on him to decide

-But there’s as much buzz about Booker & especially Kamala, who is making SC her first early-state trip this wk

-Beto mostly a white phenomenon for now but is already in touch w @RepCunningham

The other big q looming over ‘20, that @LeahDaughtry gets at: will some (or 1) of candidates have a lighter footprint in heavily-white Iowa/NH, go harder Nev/SC before Super Tues?

@KamalaHarris coming first to SC to speak to her fellow @akasorority1908 is no scheduling quirk

if ya think SC doesn’t know the role it’s gonna have this time, check out this front page.

400+ days out >>

More:

How aggressive are the ‘20 folks working SC?

Not only is @WhipClyburn being courted, one of his daughters, a @UofSC professor, has also gotten calls from candidates

One last, oh-so-South Carolina note: not all the candidates have even announced but the positioning, horse-trading is underway:

Former state rep @hboydbrown - a Beto guy - making case to black SC Dems that they can have more juice early w Beto than w one of the black candidates