alan edwards

Landslide margins among black voters powered Barack Obama to his win Saturday in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary, allowing him to overcome the telling edge Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards had among whites. Blacks made up 55% of the voters in Saturday's contest, slightly more than turned out in the state's primary four years ago and by far their biggest share in any presidential contest so far this year. Obama won 78% of their votes, with black men and women supporting the Illinois senator by about that same margin, according to exit polls of Democratic voters conducted Saturday for the Associated Press and the networks.

Senior New York senator Charles Schumer is following in the footsteps of the state's junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, to support same-sex marriage.

In the January 16 issue of The Advocate, the plaintiff couples who brought marriage cases with the help of the gay rights group Lambda Legal were honored as part of our roundup of "People of the Year." But there were many more plaintiff couples who deserve that honor for contributing their time and energy to marriage cases decided last year.

The Obama campaign is getting back to the basics this week, talking about the economy, swing states, and shoring up the Democratic base. The campaign also finally sits down with Philadelphia Gay News, making good on that blank page publisher Mark Segal infamously ran alongside the publication's interview with Sen. Hillary Clinton.