Posted on 11/12/2013 5:32:03 AM PST by cotton1706
COLUMBIA — U.S. Army veteran and Orangeburg attorney Bill Connor announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate Monday at a Myrtle Beach Tea Party meeting.Connor joins Spartanburg state Sen. Lee Bright, Easley businessman Richard Cash and Charleston PR executive Nancy Mace as the fourth candidate challenging U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in the June GOP primary.The only one of Graham’s challengers to run a statewide race, Connor ran for lieutenant governor in 2010 and lost in a runoff.A Monday news release on Connor’s newly launched website said that “Unlike some, Bill Connor wears the label of Tea Party Republican proudly.”In a video posted on Connor’s website and timed with his announcement, Connor says, “A small federal government our founders intended was for citizen legislators, people who would take time away from their families and businesses for a few years, do what’s right for our country’s future,” then come home and live under the laws they pass.“After nearly two decades in Washington Lindsey Graham’s values and votes look more like they came more from a congressional conference table,” Connor says in the video, accusing Graham of supporting conservative causes near election time.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestate.com ...
Opposition and choices are great, but I can't help but wonder if Linda Graham is secretly supporting some of these challengers in hope that they will splinter the vote in the primary with him coming out on top.
You are correct. It also splits up the Anti-Graham money 4 ways.
/johnny
4 challengers — Divide the conservative vote and conquer. Is South Carolina a plurality wins the primary state or is there a run-off?
If not a run-off state, You gotta hand it to the GOP-E; they have truly perfected the game they play.
I would imagine that at least one of those “conservatives” are plants. The others are just dunces, if they don’t realize the necessity of narrowing the field all by themselves.
/johnny
/johnny
There’s a runoff if no candidate get’s over 50%. In a five person race, it’s unlikely Graham would be able to top 50%. Then we take him out in a runoff as we did Dewhurst!
The way around this problem is for the Tea Party to present the four challengers with an agreement, that by a date certain, whichever of them leads in a “pre-primary”, as judged by a poll of the Tea Party membership, or even registered Republicans, will become the single nominee, and the others agree to drop out and give their support to him.
They either sign the agreement, or they are immediately cut off, and are no longer endorsed by the Tea Party, and those who do sign can call them “spoilers”, and reject them as nothing other than agents trying to get Graham re-elected as a “dirty trick”.
Yes, it is serious, but it is also good strategy. If a candidate cannot control their ego enough to support another candidate who is better than they are, they do not deserve to be elected.
I absolutely wish our presidential election required a run-off if no one over 50%.
It doesn't work that way in a run-off primary. The more the better is the rule if you're trying to take down an entrenched candidate. That is how Cruz beat Dewhurst in TX. Dewhurst easily got the plurality of votes but he didn't get 50%. Thus, he had to face a run-off against Cruz alone. The contrast destroyed him. We can do the same to Lindsey
I agree that we need a much narrower field. True tea partiers should sit down with tea party candidates and figure out a strategy of quickly determining the most viable tea party candidate and uniting around him or her.
Let them run but they should agree to exit the race when it becomes apparent who is the strongest tea party candidate.
No need to narrow the field down just yet, the primary is designed to do that.
/johnny
In South Carolina, if no candidate receives 50% or more of the vote, there will be a runoff. Therefore, it’s not a bad thing to pack the field when attempting to unseat an entrenched incumbent.
/johnny
Diluting the opposition isn’t going to accomplish anything but assure another term for Graham. Conservatives need to coalesce behind a single opponent.
Wish we had that law here in VA.
Out with the old MILK and in with the new TEA.
The plan is to keep Graham under 50% so there’s a runoff. The second person will likely be Lee Bright, who’s gaining strength. Then in a one on one contest between Graham and Bright, we take out Graham.
Similar to the Dewhurst/Cruz race in Texas last year.
The time to unite behind a single opposition candidate in primarying Graham would be the runoff vote. Packing the field to get there is solid strategy.
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