Posted on 03/01/2007 4:22:47 PM PST by meg88
Presidential rivals grasp at straw-poll glory By AARON GOULD SHEININ asheinin@thestate.com
FILE PHOTOGRAPH/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani More photos Anonymous critics aim at Romney Spartanburg — Agnes Spong thinks she’s landed in political heaven. The lifelong Republican from Upstate New York retired to Spartanburg two years ago and quickly discovered she was among friends.
“I think it was just about the greatest thing in the world,” Spong said Monday at Wade’s Restaurant prior to a campaign appearance by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.
Spong is not alone in thinking this Upstate bastion of Republicanism is the greatest thing since Barry Goldwater.
Brownback and about a half-dozen other GOP presidential hopefuls are spending thousands of dollars and making countless campaign phone calls and personal visits to the county in advance of tonight’s straw poll vote.
The Spartanburg County Republican Party’s 93 precincts will meet to elect officers and county executive committee members. Then, participants will “vote” for their choice for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.
It’s a long way from primary day — but you wouldn’t know it.
“It’s been awful,” said Jimmy Moore, organizer at Westview A, one of the largest Republican precincts in the state.
“I have literally every single day gotten 10 calls from these people (candidates). It just gets annoying. If this is what’s happening a year out from the primary, what the heck is going to happen later?”
County party Chairman Rick Beltram said candidates are pouring money and energy into Spartanburg:
nþBrownback and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have sent thousands of direct-mail pieces to Republican voters.
nþFormer Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is running TV ads and has done direct mail.
nþThose three, along with U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., have visited the county in recent weeks.
CNN reported on the straw poll Wednesday. Beltram said Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes” will broadcast straw-poll results live from county party headquarters tonight.
As Beltram explained the attention, his other phone line rang; it was The New York Times.
“The whole week, it’s been constant like this,” he said.
Why?
The answer depends on the campaign. For McCain, the S.C. front-runner, a good showing confirms his status. For Brownback, who’s on a different tier than McCain and Giuliani, it’s an opportunity to break through.
Moore agrees but says there is another reason: money. The winner gets to tell donors, “See, those Spartanburg County Republicans down in South Carolina love me, and that’s why you should give me money,” he said.
It also illustrates a candidate’s ability to win in a key county in a key state. George W. Bush won 58 percent of the vote in Spartanburg County in 2000. McCain had 36 percent. Bush won the state overall with 53 percent.
The GOP grip on the county is fierce. Gov. Mark Sanford took 61 percent of the county’s vote last year, up from 59 percent in 2002.
Even when Democrats win statewide, they typically lose Spartanburg. Democrat Jim Hodges defeated Republican incumbent Gov. David Beasley in 1998 but lost Spartanburg 48-52 percent. However, keeping the race close in Spartanburg also may be a key to Democratic success.
Jim Rex came as close as any Democrat, but still lost when he defeated Republican Karen Floyd for state education superintendent last year. Rex lost the county, where Floyd lives, by only about 200 votes.
The Spartanburg County Republican Party has been holding straw polls since 2001, Beltram said. The first one in late 2001 was for the 2002 gubernatorial primary. Then-Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler won — but not by much.
“Even though he won, people went back and said, ‘Wow, he’s vulnerable,’” Beltram said. Sure enough, Peeler was the top vote-getter in the primary but lost the runoff to Sanford.
In late 2003, the straw poll for the U.S. Senate primary gave Greenville’s Jim DeMint a boost. DeMint won the straw poll, finished second in the primary then swamped Beasley in the runoff.
All the attention is exhausting but encouraging, Beltram said.
“When I was elected chairman in 1999, I told delegates my No. 1 goal was to make the relevance of (the) Spartanburg County party as high as I can take it. That’s what we’ve done.”
Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658.
WHY SPARTANBURG?
Tonight’s straw poll: The event has grabbed national media attention.
Master of debate, truly.
Nicely put
I certainly hope this gets the Hunter folks back on their own threads trying to build him up rather than trying to tear Rudy down
We don't need to build him up. He's already strong on his own. We're just spreading the word.
And we're not tearing Rudy down. His own positions are doing that.
Or haven't made a choice yet.
I am not asking you to support or not support anyone. I am not trying to tear anyone down.
You are hilarious!
Do you write for Letterman?
Someone of H&C asked if voters were hungry for a true conservative when they came to Hunter's numbers. Of course we are.
True. There are a lot of undecideds still.
Can he help it if he's annoyed that conservatives are supporting a liberal when we're not even past the primaries yet?
"The word here was that Rudy would NEVER make it in SC. He WON! That's the facts."
"Who's on first?"
"I don't know."
"Third base!"
LMAOROTF!
Rudy got a lot of votes intended for "the only candidate with a chance to beat Hillary." Now that Hunter's name is out there, he has a chance to begin peeling those votes away. Don't get me wrong, I did not think Rudy would win. But I never imagined that Hunter would start rising to this level in a straw poll this early.
I used to live in Spartanburg. I honestly expected Romney to win this.
Well, don't hold your breath because there are not going to be any totally rah-rah Rudy threads on this conservative website.
"Seriously, what happened?"
Some people still rely on solely the MSM.
I notice you also mention nothing about Hunter coming in so close. I thought he was supposed to be insignificant?
Yes, Wasn't the line 'only 1% in the polls'? How does a 1% candidate almost beat the "already declared winner"?
Living in that general area now (won't get too specific; but it's not that particular county), I'm not. The power structure of the Sparantburg GOP is not that conservative anymore. It's still pretty conservative comparatively, but nothing like some of the other counties.
Im right there with you. Love Glen Beck,Hate cnn.Its tough to do but I really like his show.Maybe fox can sweet talk him into coming over from the darkside.
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