Obama celebrates landslide win in S.C. primary

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama celebrated certain victory Saturday, beating Hillary Clinton's vote by more than twice the percentage points.

"I did not travel around this state over the last year and see a white South Carolina or a black South Carolina. I saw South Carolina," Obama told supporters shortly after his win Saturday.

Though the Illinois senator had claimed victory straight out of the gate in Iowa, he finished second to Hillary in New Hampshire and Nevada. This win was considered crucial for Obama to survive in the race.

Sen. John McCain edged past Gov. Mike Huckabee to win the GOP vote as well, with 33 percent to Huckabee's 30. Mitt Romney came in fourth with 15 percent, barely beaten by Fred Thompson, who announced three days later he was ending his race for the presidency.

Clinton came in a distant second with 27 percent of the vote to Obama's 55 percent. South Carolina native John Edwards finished with 18 percent. The New York senator congratulated Obama and said she was excited to move forward to the Super Tuesday contests on February 5, where she is favored to win according to polls from RealClearPolitics.com.

Next up: both parties head to Florida. The primary takes place Jan. 29.

Florida remains a point of contention for Clinton, who has attended several fundraisers in the Sunshine State. That "campaigning" violated both a pledge she had made earlier this month and the Democratic boycott, put in place because Florida moved its primary date before Super Tuesday on Feb. 5.

To further spin the situation into a cloud of uncertainty, Massachussets Sen. Ted Kennedy came out to publicly endorse Obama for president Monday.