Why is Obama not trying to win SC ?

[ajb]

If you look at the 2008 exit polls, McCain won whites under 30 in South Carolina, 74-24, even though Obama won voters under 30 overall, 55-44. Nonwhite voters are a much bigger share of the under-30 vote in SC, obviously, but young whites in SC didn't like Obama in 2008, so they're not going to like him now.

In NC, by contrast, Obama won whites under 30, 56-44.

In terms of racial demographics, SC is getting less white (down from about 69% in 2000, to 67% in 2010), but also less black (down from 30% to 28%). The Hispanic population is increasing, but that's cancelled out by the declining African-American share, given that not all Hispanic immigrants are citizens, and that they vote Democratic at a much lower rate than African-Americans.

I don't think there's any reason to think that South Carolina is becoming demographically more friendly to the Democrats.