Posted on 12/08/2005 1:04:45 PM PST by Big Steve
Carroll Campbell's mission was simple.
Working from the throne of the governor's mansion, he would elevate South Carolina to the forefront of American politics by leading the GOP's sweep through the South.
Along the way, he would back only winners.
Ronald Reagan became president because of him. So did both of the Bushes.
Campbell would be the kingmaker; they would be the kings.
| Campbell felled by heart attack |
| Reflections on Carroll Campbell |
| Carroll Ashmore Campbell Jr. - Timeline |
| Alzheimer's research promising |
| Funeral arrangements |
As a reward, Campbell twice found himself on the short list to become vice president of the United States, in 1988 and again in '96.
"He had national ambitions," said Rice University political scientist Earl Black, a longtime Campbell follower.
"He was trying to build the party and position himself to become a national player. It only didn't happen because of his illness."
Campbell, 65, died Wednesday of a heart attack after a six-year bout with Alzheimer's disease.
The current President Bush offered Campbell two ambassadorshipsincluding one to Saudi Arabia. Some said he was being considered for commerce secretary.
Because of his illness, Campbell was forced to turn down all offers even before his family went public with his condition.
More than any figure in the modern age-including the late state patriarch Strom Thurmond-Campbell was responsible for making Republicans the majority party in South Carolina. From his Greenville base, where he served four terms as a U.S. congressman making friends with the Reagans and Bushes, Campbell and the late Lee Atwater, his close friend and strategist, set the course.
A first step was to make the South Carolina presidential primary the leadoff in the growing Republican base in the South.
After Reagan won the race in 1980 there was no looking back as the primary became the GOP's biggest membership-building tool. Ever since, no Republican has won the White House without winning the South Carolina primary.
In 1986, Campbell left Congress to become South Carolina's first two-term Republican governor. He set out recruiting foreign investment into the state as a replacement for the waning textile industry, most notably landing the BMW plant near Greer in 1992.
Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings had high praise for Campbell, even though he helped speed the decline of the state Democratic Party.
"He set out to do better for South Carolina as opposed to doing nothing," said Hollings, in a jab toward current Gov. Mark Sanford.
Because of their different paths, a much-anticipated Hollings-Campbell Senate showdown never materialized.
"I worked hard so I didn't have to" face him, Hollings quipped.
Sometimes, the politics would become bare-knuckled. His most intimate circle was dubbed "the Campbell Mafia."
Dozens of formerly Democratic state lawmakers would switch parties under his tenure.
"The party doubled in size and was on its way to becoming a majority in everything" before Campbell left, said former strategist Warren Tompkins.
Campbell won re-election in 1990, and left office in 1994 after hand-picking former state Rep. David Beasley to be his Republican successor. His 72 percent approval rating made him the most popular governor in America.
"There was little doubt in most of our minds that as his governorship closed, he was destined to go on to bigger and brighter things," said former budget director Fred Carter.
Supporters say Campbell could have done much more if his career hadn't been struck short.
"What's lost is what might have been," said Dave Woodward, a Republican consultant and Clemson University political science professor.
"We were hopeful he would get on the national stage and show the world what South Carolina was like."
Contact Schuyler Kropf at (843) 937-5551.
It's good to say nice things about the dead, but let's not over do it.
RIP, sir.
It apppears now that starters of the conservative moment are now dying off the political scene or leaning toward a legal convictions....What is the movement to do?...since no succesors seem to appear ..but choose not to train young believes like myself to become the next Campells, Reagans, Goldwaters, Delays, and Gringrichs, ect.
Well...thanks for the enlighten history story...but who's next in the movement for consevativism?
Sad news. I was a fan of his.
Being a South Carolinian, I am saddened by his passing, but very, very grateful for all he did for our great state. Were it not for the onset of Alzheimer's, I believe his political aspirations and realizations would have been much, much greater.
Carroll Campbell was a great man whose beneficent influence will bless our state of South Carolina for decades to come.
That is why local pundit Lee Bandy indulged a barf-alert snide screed on the front page of The State, above the fold, against Governor Campbell's record.
That is why The Brothers Black, ol' Merle & Earle, will once again indulge their calumny against white southern Republicans as being nothing more than racist former Democrats disgusted by the national Dem party's solicitousness toward minorities.
Meanwhile, it's great, living in my wonderful Palmetto Sate!
That's `Palmetto State'.
Ow! Ow! (self-inflicted gluteal kicks)
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