In the final hours of this year’s presidential campaign, Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been flying in and out of the so-called battleground states, states with sizeable electoral votes and with a recent history of being able to be carried by the candidate of either party. So it’s no surprise that again this year South Carolina received almost no attention from the campaigns … with one brief exception:
Presidential candidates historically choose not to spend valuable time and money in states where there is little need to compete for votes. South Carolina is a good example. President Trump expects to carry the state, Joe Biden doesn’t. This year the state is again expected to remain reliably red, or solid Republican as it has for over 40 years. The last Democrat to carry the Palmetto State was Jimmy Carter from neighboring Georgia in 1976. In 2016 Donald Trump defeated Hilary Clinton here by 14 points. Dr. Gibbs Knotts a political scientist at the College of Charleston however expects the 2020 race to be closer.
