News 14 Carolina - Political Connections

Columbia, SC 10:15pm "That's all she wrote"

The polls were practically dead on this time. Actually, they didn't give Obama enough credit. I've been at Edwards' headquarters to see the South Carolina Democratic Primary results come in.

It was amazing, as 7:00pm hit and the polls closed the networks immediately called Sen. Obama the winner. What's amazing is no one even responded in the Edwards crowd. As numbers came in and Edwards would pick up a percentage point or so there would be some screams but it was clear the results were inevitable in the minds of his supporters.

They were hoping for a second but despite another third place finish most of his supporters refuse to believe he will lose. The others are hoping for either a delegate split at the convention and something funny happening or they hope he's a VP candidate or uses the pulpit to push issues, in particular, health care and global warming.

As Edwards took the stage the crowd was extremely energetic and exciting. That was something we didn't see much of all week. His crowds were subdued compared to what I remember in '04.

Anywho, I have a deadline and need to get my work done and get to bed because I am sick as a dog. We've worked for two straight weeks now and are looking forward to several days off. I may still try to update the blog here and there but it all depends on how the relaxing is going!

Just a few quick thanks from SC to our staff back in Raleigh who helped us get these stories on air and especially Political Connections. Our bosses were phenomenal for letting us dictate a large part of the coverage on the trip.

Mark Barger, our Chief Photographer, shot all that great video you saw in my stories and is extremely creative in his suggestions for my stories. It was a blessing to have him with me on this trip.

Thank all of you for reading this blog, and hopefully enjoying it! Without you, this would essentially be a journal for myself. I hope this showed you a little bit more of what life is like on the trail beyond our stories you see on tv.

Most of all, I have to thank my wife. For two weeks she had to hear me talk about all these crazy things we were doing and she was stuck at home alone with our moron black lab! Honey, I love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow...You're the Best! 402

Catch all of you on the flip side because for now our Presidential campaign trail is sending us home, and we can't wait!