Obama wins South Carolina primary

Columbia: Heavy black support helped push Barack Obama to a big win in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary on Saturday.

Obama's win dealt a setback to rival Hillary Clinton in the fight for the right to represent the Democratic Party in November's presidential election.

With nearly all the votes counted, Obama had doubled Clinton's vote total, winning 55 per cent to her 27 per cent.

Clinton called Obama to congratulate him and headed from South Carolina to Tennessee as the results began to roll in.

Exit polls showed Obama won four of every five black voters, who made up more than half of the primary electorate. He also won one-quarter of white votes.