As Democratic state Sen. Vincent Sheheen strolls around his hometown of Camden, people can't help but call out to him.

"Hey, Vincent!" called a woman on a recent sunny morning as she piled into her car on Camden's Broad Street. "We're pulling for you, honey."

Sheheen, tall and lanky, raised a friendly palm in the air and called a greeting back to the mother of one of his childhood football friends.