South Carolina Elected Official Switches Support from ‘Compromise Choice’ Biden to ‘Unapologetic’ Sanders

An elected official in the early primary state of South Carolina is switching her support from Joe Biden (D) to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), conceding that her previous support for the former vice president was a “compromise choice.”

While Dalhi Myers, who was “first elected to the Richland County Council in 2016,” considers herself a “middle of the road” Democrat, she told the Associated Press that Sanders is “unafraid” and “unapologetic” and can, therefore, go head to head against President Trump. She views his ability to inspire and energize young people as crucial. It is something that, some Democrats fear, Biden is unable to do.

“I looked at that, and I thought, ‘He’s right,’” Myers said, according to the AP. “He’s unafraid and he’s unapologetic. … I like the fact that he is willing to fight for a better America — for the least, the fallen, the left behind.”

She originally endorsed Biden in December along with a flurry of South Carolina elected officials, who deemed him “the only candidate with the broad and diverse coalition of support we need to win.” Myers admitted that she viewed him as the safe, or “compromise” choice.

“It was a compromise choice,” she told the AP. “I didn’t find anybody’s candidacy electrifying, but I did find Joe Biden’s candidacy to be reassuring in a sort of normal, American kind of way.”

Myers admitted that she has concerns over some of Sanders’ big government plans such as Medicare for All, but added, “Medicare for All will have to go through Congress.”

“He’s not going to pull a Donald Trump,” she added.

“I’m a 50-year-old-black woman, and I tend to be middle of the road,” Myers explained. “I’m voting what I think is best for all of us, not just me. … I’m not a left-wing liberal. I’m not even a left-wing Democrat. But I am a realist.”

Biden continues to hold a strong advantage in South Carolina. Thursday’s RealClearPolitics average shows the former vice president leading the field with a 17-point advantage over Sanders.

South Carolina’s February 29 primary is just over a month away. It remains to be seen how the upcoming Iowa caucus, New Hampshire primary, and Nevada caucus will affect the south’s first primary.