COLUMBIA, S.C. _ At a downtown restaurant _ amid the noise of silverware clinking, servers taking orders and diners chatting _ Denae Pearson stared intently at a television screen where a defining moment of the first round of Democratic presidential primary debates was unfolding.
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California was calling out former Vice President Joe Biden for his opposition to integrating Delaware schools through the practice of busing. Biden was a U.S. senator from that state at that time, the 1970s.
A black woman who benefited from busing in California as a young girl, Harris put Biden on the defensive: "That little girl was me," she said in a line now emblazoned on her campaign T-shirts along with her childhood photo.
The confrontation was riveting political theater to the dozens, including Pearson, who had gathered for the debate watch party. Among political observers, it was billed as a breakout moment for Harris that helped boost her poll numbers nationally and in Iowa, whose voters will be first to weigh in on the Democratic primary, in which 24 candidates are seeking the nomination.
For Biden, the perceived front-runner, the moment spelled trouble, with those same national pundits speculating Harris' performance could peel away Biden's black voter support.
But on that night, Pearson _ whose parents went to segregated schools _ was still with Biden: the man she met a week before at U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn's "World Famous Fish Fry" who impressed her with his stance on health care.
"I support him," said the 34-year-old Columbia resident. "I am a black woman. I get where he's coming from."
Pearson is not unique among the black South Carolina voters who spoke to The State for this report.
Over the past month, The State conducted 38 formal interviews and had nearly a dozen more conversations with black South Carolina voters, Democratic leaders and political experts to test the assumption _ fueled by early polls and pushed by national media _ that Biden is the favorite to win South Carolina's pivotal presidential primary.
The State asked 29 black South Carolina voters which candidates they planned to vote for in the state's first-in-the-South primary, including eight public figures and civic leaders. Reporters also interviewed five black elected officials from outside South Carolina with ties to southern constituencies, two black Democratic activists and two political scientists who have studied black voting patterns.
Nationally, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Biden slipping: while 4 out of 10 black voters supported Biden before the debate during which he clashed with Harris, in a post-debate poll only 2 in 10 said they would pick him. No polls so far, however, have definitively measured how the candidates are doing among black voters in South Carolina.
Both Biden and Harris are set to visit the state this weekend for the first time since the June 27 debate, which will provide a glimpse into how voters now feel about the contenders.
Still, though far from definitive, The State's interviews give strong insight into the attitudes toward Biden driving his support among black South Carolina voters, who make up more than 60% of the Democratic electorate.
Unsurprisingly, The State found black South Carolina voters are far from monolithic regarding their political views and preferred candidates. At the same time, for the many who said they were supporting or leaning toward Biden, their explanations shared many similarities.
Even as Biden's record on race complicates his standing among black voters nationally, many African Americans across generations in South Carolina told The State they do not associate themselves with the criticism the former vice president has received.
They said enthusiasm for Biden's candidacy derives from a combination of strategic thinking about who can beat President Donald Trump and a deep emotional connection to the man who served alongside Barack Obama, the country's first black president.
And older black voters said they trust Biden to unite the country. If they turn out in large numbers next year _ as they did in 2016, when the over-45 age bracket represented more than 70% of those participating in the South Carolina Democratic presidential primary _ that sensibility could prevail.
Here is a deeper look at what The State found, in voters' own words.
