On the Monday, August 17, 2026, episode of The Excerpt podcast: Why is South Carolina so important to Democrats’ future? USA TODAY White House Correspondent Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy joins The Excerpt to explain why the DNC is keeping the state first in its presidential primary calendar, what that reveals about the voters the party wants to court and how the decision could reshape the path to the White House in 2028.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Dana Taylor:
The DNC’s rules and bylaws committee has made its decision. South Carolina isn’t just keeping its coveted spot as the first on the Democratic primary calendar. It’s becoming a bellwether of the party’s identity. After breaking with tradition and moving away from Iowa, Democrats are doubling down on a Southern state whose electorate looks very different from the early contests of the past. The question now is which presidential candidates will benefit the most from that change and what that means for the party’s road back to the White House. Hello and welcome to USA TODAY’s The Excerpt. I’m Dana Taylor. Today is Monday, August 17th, 2026. Joining me to dig into the DNC’s primary strategy leading up to 2028 is USA TODAY White House Correspondent Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy. It’s so good to have you here, Swapna.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So nice to be here, Dana. Thank you for having me.
Dana Taylor:
Swapna, why did the DNC decide South Carolina makes the most sense strategically for kicking off their presidential primaries?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So Black voters are known as the backbone of the Democratic Party because about 80 to 90% of Black voters vote Democrat. When it comes to South Carolina, among the primary voters, 60% of the voters tend to be Black, and so that’s a huge base. So this is seen as a way to reward the Democrats’ most loyal base.
Dana Taylor:
South Carolina already went first during the last cycle, so why re-litigate this?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
Well, this time they were also talking about Nevada, which is one of the most diverse states in the country, and so it’s not just the Black electorate, but they thought this would be a good way to have a diverse coalition of Latino voters, Black voters, Asian voters, young voters, etc., but ultimately, the participation rate for Latino voters who make up about 20% of the electorate is not as high as it is for Black voters in South Carolina. So I believe that sort of weighed into the decision.
Dana Taylor:
South Carolina is part of the Bible belt. Does the South Carolina first primary calendar advantage any specific type of candidate vying for the Democratic presidential nomination?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
From people that I spoke to, party leaders as well as political experts, they tend to believe that South Carolina voters are more conservative on the ideological spectrum. So they believe that a moderate candidate would do better than a progressive candidate in the state.
Dana Taylor:
Swapna, you wrote about a new speaking series called On the Road that’s being hosted by the Democratic Party in South Carolina. What are party leaders hoping to accomplish here and which candidates have made an appearance so far?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
So this is an attempt to connect high profile democratic leaders to the local South Carolina voters, the local communities, and when you look at the list, it’s a pretty long list of candidates who’ve made this pilgrimage to South Carolina starting in 2025 after the previous year’s loss. So you have everyone from Maryland Governor Wes Moore to former Vice President Kamala Harris who went there for a private fundraiser. You have Cory Booker, the New Jersey Senator, you have Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. It’s a pretty long list.
Dana Taylor:
We also have to look at another possible run by former Vice President Kamala Harris. Is Harris expected to be a strong contender in South Carolina should she decide to run in 2028?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
It’s an interesting question. So I spoke to quite a few people and she was not on the top of anyone’s list, but then when I asked them, how about Kamala Harris? And they’d say, “Oh yes, yeah, she would do well, but she’d need to do the work. She’d need to show up,” and things like that, and we’ll see how she connects with the voters. Part of the reluctance on the part of some of these experts might be the Democratic autopsy report, which was released this year, and basically said that Harris was not able to energize the voters in the same way that happened in 2020, and that about 6.8 million fewer voters voted in 2024 compared to 2020.
Dana Taylor:
The list of likely Democratic candidates is long. There are still names we haven’t mentioned. Is the presidential primary field still as wide open as it seems?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
That’s what many people believe. That’s what many of the experts told me, and it’s a long list and there’s still a long way to go. So right after the midterms is when they expect folks to make these trips and make the effort to make a connection with the South Carolina voters.
Dana Taylor:
Political commentator Bakari Sellers, a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, spoke to you about some of the candidates he thought might do well here. What did he share with you?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
Well, he basically said that candidates who are moderate and can appeal to the conservative voters in the state are the ones who are likely to do better, and he was pretty clear about the fact that progressive voters will probably not do very well. Some others seem to think that that could be the case, but in the case of Bakari Sellers, he was pretty clear that that would be a pretty hard lift. At the same time, he also talked about the faith-based communities and candidates who can speak to their faith would also appeal to the voter base there, is what he said.
Dana Taylor:
Christale Spain, Chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party told you there are a couple of candidates who are creating buzz, which candidates did she think are off to a good start?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
Well, she did mention Governor Gavin Newsom of California, and she also mentioned Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. Gavin Newsom for his redistrict efforts as a response to Texas that won him several headlines. Also, he was one of the potential candidates who actually made the trip to South Carolina and twice last year as well as this year, and then you have Cory Booker who ran for president in 2020. So he had a ground game there, and so he’s built relationships with the local people in South Carolina. So she thinks there’s buzz around them.
She told me that the most important thing a candidate can do is come and do the work to connect with voters and to help local officials get elected, the local candidates get elected. That was a big part of her message, and specifically for progressives because she felt like they don’t often do that in South Carolina compared to the way they’ve done it in New Hampshire or in Iowa. She feels that if they come up with the same effort in South Carolina, they could in fact have a good chance, given that she herself used to work for a Bernie Sanders campaign in 2016.
Dana Taylor:
Swapna, nationally, we’ve seen a powerful progressive wing of the Democratic Party show up at the polls, clearly hungry for change. Have we seen any indication that South Carolina voters are leaning this way?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
There are no clear indications that’s happening currently since most people think moderates have a good chance, but at the same time, Spain told me she herself was a Bernie Sanders supporter and in fact had worked on his campaign. So you have at least one person who’s going to be in favor there in South Carolina, but on a more serious note, what she said was, Progressives, as long as they put in the same effort they put in Iowa or in New Hampshire, if they did the same thing and built a ground game and connected with voters, could have a good chance.” There was also another professor I spoke to who said he hears on campus that there is that hunger for change and that progressives might have a shot.
Dana Taylor:
So what are democratic voters in South Carolina looking for in the next party nominee? And do their concerns align with those voters in other key states the Democrats will need to win to take back the White House?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
The number one thing is affordability, and that’s something that people throughout the nation have been talking about. All kinds of voters in all different states, whether it’s gas prices, it’s home prices, it’s healthcare, which is going to be the biggest, is what Spain told me. So those are issues obviously that are of concern to voters in South Carolina and around the country, but in South Carolina, the second layer is faith, and they were clear to say that it’s not really religiosity or a particular denomination, but more someone who’s rooted in faith and speak to the power of prayer as one person put it.
Dana Taylor:
Looking at all six states who vote before Super Tuesday, South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia, what message is the DNC trying to send with their primary calendar?
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
What they’re basically trying to say is that they’re going to be rewarding their loyal base, and they do want to build a broad coalition. So you have in the early states, you’ve got South Carolina, then you’ve got Nevada, which has a very diverse racial and ethnic population. You also have New Mexico, which is also extremely diverse. So that’s the general message, and they’re also trying to tap into young voters, working class voters. So states that have a good mix of all of these are the ones that are being favored.
Dana Taylor:
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. Thanks for sharing your reporting here, Swapna.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy:
Thank you for having me, Dana.
Dana Taylor:
We’ll keep bringing you stories that matter. I’m Dana Taylor, and I’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks for listening.