Senators Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris are among the 2020 Democratic nominees that will be gathering in South Carolina this Friday and Saturday for Rep. Jim Clyburn's "world famous" fish fry.
A tradition that started in 1992, Rep. Clyburn's fish fry has evolved from a thank you to his congressional campaign volunteers to what is now seen as a must-attend event for those seeking office in South Carolina and nationwide.
"This is the kickoff for the presidential pre-season of 2020," said Columbia-based Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright to CBSNews. "This will be the first time you have this many candidates all in one venue, at the same time, at the same stage, talking to a very decisive voting bloc — the most important voting bloc in the Democratic primary — African American voters."
The fish fry has given South Carolina voters the opportunity to meet the politicians they will potentially be choosing from in the election cycle, without the $150 price tag of the Democratic Party Convention's Blue Palmetto Dinner. Each candidate will be introduced to the crowd with a pre-selected song of their choosing and given an opportunity to address the thousands projected to be in attendance.
"Everybody will be there just simply having [a] good old time,” Jaime Harrison, a former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party and current U.S. Senate candidate, said to ABC news. “Eating, drinking, dancing, laughing and then sitting back and listening to our presidential candidates.”
One candidate who has announced that he will not be attending the fish fry is South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who will instead be attending a march in hopes of calming tensions between the local Black community and police in his city after a fatal police shooting.
With the South Carolina primary months away, taking place February 29, 2020, candidates hope that Rep. Clyburn's fish fry will allow them to make an impression on potential voters and boost them as it has for candidates in the past.
“At this fish fry, dancing the Electric Slide, or whatever, with Obama, and he ends up as president, a year later, of the United States,” Clyburn said to Greenville News. “That is something that those people will never, ever, get over.”
