Obama finds support in Charlotte

Michael Dodson didn't have to go to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's $1,000-a-plate Charlotte fund-raiser Friday to appreciate the significance of his campaign.

"He's probably the first African-American candidate the country has taken seriously," Dodson, a junior at Johnson C. Smith University, said in the school's student union Friday morning.

Earlier, Obama, 45, spoke to about 100 people at the Charlotte City Club before leaving to campaign in South Carolina. At the breakfast -- which was closed to the media -- he alluded to the notable nature of his candidacy.

"History beckons us," he said, according to one guest, Charlotte lawyer David Erdman.

Interviews with two dozen African-Americans along Beatties Ford Road -- the historic corridor of Charlotte's black community -- reflected enthusiasm if not universal support for the man trying to become the nation's first black president.

"A lot of black people are sitting on the fence about him," said businessman Victor Alexander outside the B&J barbershop.

Obama acknowledged that.

"It's a long campaign," he said as he left the fundraiser. "So they'll have more than enough information to make a decision by the time this is over."

The junior U.S. senator from Illinois was just elected to the Senate in 2004. Some voters know little about him. Others question his experience. Still others are drawn to one of his main rivals, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

"I love Hillary Clinton," cosmetologist Samantha Diggs, 41, said as she leaned over a customer. "I love her style. I love her concern for us as African-Americans."

Polls show African-Americans divided between Obama and Clinton, 59.

African-American support is crucial to both candidates during the primaries, particularly in South Carolina, where as many as half the Democratic voters in January's primary will be black.

Clinton benefits from the fond memories many black voters have of her husband's administration. JCSU senior Travis Burgin said, "Whenever you think about Hillary, you automatically think of Bill."

Bill Clinton is the reason sophomore Donnell Hopkins supports Hillary.

"As long as Bill Clinton is back in the White House somewhere, I'm all for it," he said.

"Just because [Obama] is of a color, who's to say he would do the same thing?"

But the prospect of a black president is clearly appealing to many voters.

"Because he's black -- bottom line," librarian Elisha Minter said, explaining her support for Obama. "He's qualified."

However, the interviews of voters along Beatties Ford Road found little support for former Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.

"He's a distant three," said Victor Alexander. "The two front-runners are just what African-Americans are looking for.

"If you're black, you've got to decide whether you're going to vote for Bill Clinton again or a black man. That's not a bad choice for minorities."