The voting battles in Mississippi did not end in 1965.
He has a conservative record that fits naturally with South Carolinians, but perhaps his absence from earlier voting battles will undermine people's knowledge and, ultimately confidence, in him.
But at some point next year, when the electoral vote battle comes into sharper focus, this choice between the West and the Midwest may be the defining strategic moment for the Obama campaign.
"The Republicans have hand-counted in many, many of the counties themselves, and they're heavily Republican in nature," said former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Mr. Gore's representative in the vote battle.
But just as Republicans have twisted the Voter ID issue into a fight against a phony trend of fraud, they are now trying to turn the early-voting battle into a defense of the military against an administration falsely portrayed as anti-soldier.
"People my age are saying: 'We fought the voting rights battle and we thought we won.
On the eve of the last weekend before voting, the battle for the Senate, in contrast, still hangs in the balance, although the consensus among election forecasters such as FiveThirtyEight and The Upshot is that Republicans retain a modest edge in most of the crucial battleground states.
Inside North Carolina's voting rights battle and claims of voter suppression.
As a veteran of integration and voting rights battles, she went on to fight for economic rights, once obstructing a garbage truck in support of striking workers.
I met Jackie Venus who was part of 'Operation Disabled Vote', a battle bus that's touring London encouraging disabled people to vote.
After last week's vote, that battle may occupy him for some time to come.
