Posted on 06/19/2002 8:34:56 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative
Disturbed by Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler's "negative attacks" in the Republican gubernatorial primary campaign, former Gov. Carroll Campbell abandoned his stance of neutrality Tuesday and endorsed former U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford for governor.
His support gives a boost to Sanford's campaign just a week before Tuesday's runoff. The winner faces Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges in the Nov. 5 general election.
"This is a real blow to the Peeler campaign," said Ron Romine, a USC Spartanburg political scientist. "I think people are smelling victory and are beginning to jump on the bandwagon."
The endorsement "undercuts Peeler in Greenville and Spartanburg," Wofford College political science professor Robert Jeffrey said. "This is extraordinarily important."
The Upstate is Peeler's political home base and the heart of the district Campbell represented in Congress for 10 years before he was elected governor.
In his endorsement, Campbellwho left the governor's office in 1995 with an almost unheard-of-job approval rating of 72 percent -- said he had spent his life trying to advance conservative ideas and the Republican Party.
"That's why I want to speak out against the negative attacks and for Mark Sanford," Campbell says in a new TV ad paid for by the Sanford campaign. "Mark is a true conservative; a man of character who would make us all proud."
Campbell, who was diagnosed in October with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, could not be reached for comment.
Robert Adams, campaign manager for Peeler, was careful not to criticize Campbell, the man most responsible for building the state Republican Party into the dominant political force it is today.
"Gov. Campbell is a great man," Adams said. "I have nothing but the highest regard for him."
But, he added, "this election is about the differences between Bob Peeler and Mark Sanford. Sanford is hiding behind surrogates like (retired Marine Lt. Col.) Ollie North, Carroll Campbell and (U.S. Rep.) Lindsey Graham. I think voters see it for what it is."
Before the June 11 primary, Campbell's sons, Carroll and Mike, endorsed Sanford as the best candidate suited to carry out their dad's legacy.
"Our father's statement is a clear indication of where he believes our party should go as we mobilize to retake the Governor's Mansion and resume the work of restructuring and economic development that were the hallmarks of his administration," they said in a joint statement Tuesday.
Mike Campbell said in an interview that his father had intended to sit on the sidelines through the primary campaign. But that changed, he said, when his dad felt Peeler had crossed the line with attack ads distorting the truth and engaging in character assassination.
"We expect this kind of thing from (state Democratic Chairman) Dick Harpootlian and (Democratic consultant) Kevin Geddings," Mike Campbell said, "not from your own party."
Not a bad list of supporters. It sounds like Stanford is picking up steam. I don't know much about Peeler.
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