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.
never mind
Thought so.
*snort*
You completely missed it from the start.
It’s impossible to miss a nonentity.
Thus no one will miss Rudy when Duncan Hunter pulls ahead.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
And you don't think there's life on other planets???
*snort*
Are you some kind of Art Bell fanatic?
Hardly. My first post to you was sarcasm, which you obviously missed, and continue to miss.
When sarcasm fails due to a simpleminded style, explaining the obvious does not fix the problem.
Well aren't you just a barrel of laughs.
Not really, but Duncan Hunter sure did well today. I'll probably donate more to his campaign now.
>>>there are those who profit supplying the materiel for wars--and there are those who profit or plunder in victory.<<<
Dr. Seuss described that so simply with Sylvester McMonkey McBean.
>>>"Never mind the moral torpedoes, let's all move Leftward in our candidate and votes so we can win." The problem then is, exactly WHO wins? Not the Right. Not Life.<<<<
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791535/posts
Excerpt:
"Keep pushing the Republican Party because you're pushing it in the right direction," New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the Log Cabin Republican convention over the weekend.
Knock yourself out. I'm glad Duncan did well.
He's not my candidate. But he's a good man.
Now you're talking.
Post of the day.
What did I leave out? Hunter might take some wonderful stands but his support for the (narrowly passed) Prescription Drug Bill should be an immediate deal killer for anyone who believes in limited government.
> I didn't see it but I wish I had. The media had to say a presidential name other than McCain, Giuliani or Romney.
And oh how they hated to say it! Eeeek, a real conservative! :-)
Glad to see that the PEOPLE can see past the MSM and their weak-kneed "Republican" abettors.
It's ON baby! Hunter '08!
By that logic, no one who voted for that addition to Medicare deserves to be in Congress, either. Dog catcher...well...er, um, gotta think hard about that one. /sarcasm
Medicare is here. They paid for whopping surgery bills and other extreme, last ditch measures, but NOT for the drugs to keep people in better health so they wouldn't need those extreme measures, yet paying for the drugs is much cheaper.
Myself, I would have supported help for the poorest who simply couldn't afford anything for their drugs - PERIOD. That's not the bill we got. We got an "all are eligible" bill, but I believe the best off don't get the same degree of government help the poorest do. Some kind of odd duck, but typical, Congressional compromise.
This was no deal breaker for Congressmen or the Presidency. It was a middle ground addition to Medicare, which was already here and not going away. It is better to have drugs paid for that are preventative than to continue down the road of paying only for extreme treatment measures which are much more expensive.
No matter - you're not a fair observer of the Republican scene. And you know you are not. It's like having Pat Buchanan as commentator and analyst on the Republican side (along with Bill Press or some such for the Dems) - on the cable shows.
I turn 'em BOTH off when I see 'em. Just considering the source...
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