COLUMBIA (South Carolina), Jan 27: US Senator Barack Obama routed his colleague, Hillary Clinton, in South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary on Saturday, riding massive African-American support to a critical win in his bid to become the first black US president.

The vote marked a second key victory for Obama and evened the score with Clinton, who has also won two key state primaries ahead of a blitz of nearly two dozen nationwide contests on Feb 5.

The charismatic Illinois senator, who beat the former first lady 55.4 to 26.5 per cent, lashed out at Clinton in his victory speech, painting himself as an agent of change and her as a divisive voice of the status quo.

“There are real differences between the candidates. We are looking for more than just a change of party in the White House. We are looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington,” Obama said as supporters chanted “We want change,” and “Yes, we can!” “It’s a status quo that extends beyond a particular party, and that status quo is fighting back with everything it’s got, with the same old tactics that divide and distract us from solving the problems people face.”

Even though his win came largely from black voters, 81 per cent of whom picked Obama while 17 per cent chose Clinton, Obama sought to downplay the racial divide.

“It is not about black versus white. This election is about the past versus the future,” he said.

Clinton had grabbed the momentum with successive victories in New Hampshire and Nevada. The New York senator acknowledged her defeat in South Carolina and vowed to take her fight to become the first woman US president nationwide.

“I have called Senator Obama to congratulate him and wish him well,” said a statement issued by the former first lady’s campaign.

“We now turn our attention to the millions of Americans who will make their voices heard in Florida and the 22 states as well as American Samoa who will vote on Feb 5.”—AFP