Hillary Clinton wins South Carolina primary

Hillary Clinton finally got her landslide. This could redefine the Democratic race for the White House.

Her crushing defeat of Sen. Bernie Sanders in the South Carolina primary Saturday restored Clinton as the undisputed front-runner, as her southern firewall of minority voters held rock solid and her opponent fared poorly among African-American voters.

The former secretary of state, after a narrow win in Iowa, a major loss in New Hampshire and a five-point victory in Nevada, has now captured three of the first four Democratic nominating contests. She's now primed for Super Tuesday, an 11-state Democratic match-up that includes a sweep of Clinton-friendly country in the Deep South.

"Tomorrow, this campaign goes national," Clinton said, in a speech dominated by her new campaign mantra of breaking down racial, gender and economic barriers, which has been distilled from the experience of tough months on the campaign trail and the stronger-than-expected populist challenge from Sanders.

With 99% of votes counted, Clinton led by a huge margin, 73.5% to 26%, and was ahead by a staggering 174,000 votes.

Clinton's victory raised serious questions for Sanders, who sent shockwaves through her campaign with a 22-point victory in the New Hampshire primary earlier this month, but has so far failed to build on that triumph to prove he can connect with the Democratic Party's crucial bloc of minority voters.

Her triumph was fueled by a massive advantage among African-American voters who overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama in an ugly primary eight years ago. This time around Clinton won more than 80% of South Carolina's African-American voters. Obama managed 78% from the same community in 2008, though that was in a three-way race that included John Edwards.

Saturday's win also represented a moment of personal redemption for Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, who spent years painstakingly repairing ties with the African-American community in the Palmetto State after 2008.

Clinton also slammed Republican front-runner Donald Trump, offering a message of compassion to counter the anger whipped up by the billionaire.

"Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great," Clinton said, referring to Trump's slogan. "But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, we need to be tearing down barriers."

Saturday's results appear to validate the Clinton campaign's argument that although Sanders could compete in some early states, he would be unable to match Clinton in less white, more diverse states in the South and the West.