Barack Obama has surged ahead of Hillary Clinton in popularity among blacks in South Carolina, according to a new poll conducted by Winthrop University.

The survey, conducted between Aug. 19 and Sept. 9, shows Obama supported by 35 percent of black South Carolinians and Clinton by 30 percent.

The next closest candidate was John Edwards, with 3 percent. But third place actually is held by "Undecided/Not Sure," at 28 percent. None of the other Democratic candidates garnered a full percentage point.

The poll of 657 randomly selected participants has a margin of error of about 4 percentage points.

What's unique about this poll is that it is not limited to likely voters.

Ron Lester, a respected pollster in Prince George's County, the wealthiest predominantly black county in the country, once told me "the problem with likely black voters is that there is no such thing."

Black voters, he and many other pollsters have told me for years, vote infrequently in big numbers some election cycles and miniscule numbers in the very next one, even in the same jurisdiction.

What also is interesting is the poll's gender breakdown, showing Hillary receiving 30 percent of black men's support and Barack 42 percent, with 21 percent undecided.

And the two are dead even among black women, with each receiving about 31 percent of their support and with 33 percent undecided.

-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times