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.
AWSOME........Rudy proving all those conservative naysayers wrong, I cant wait till he is our candidate for President!!
BTW.....The source is the Huffington Post but theres an article on there saying Rommney is starting to attack Rudy, breaking Reagan's 11th commmadment.
:)
Ping~
"Sean is fawning over Giuliani the same way he did Arnold."
Hannity had become a real Giuliani cheerleader. I don't know when that happened. He seemed so neutral and one day; BAM!, like a ton of bricks. What gets me the most is how he still tries to pretend he's undecided. Being a conservative and supporting Giuliani is bad enough as is, but lying about it and pretending going on about how you just KNOW Giuliani will really pick new Scalias for the U.S. supreme court when he has no real record to show that is where it crosses the line.
Amazing that Rudy wins among diehard conservatives. Based on what is written here everyday - he should have come in last - not first!
Straw polls are a test of organization more than popularity. Rudy has money. Hunter doesn't. If Hunter pulls this out, it's huge.
Agreed
And the thing is, Rudy didn't little campaigning while all the other candidates did campaign and had GOTV efforts. That's a sure sign Rudy has a large wave of momentum right now, a wave I don't see stopping anytime soon.
The fact that Duncan Hunter came so close to Rudy is a very good sign for the Hunter team. Rudy has star power. And trust me, if you think everyone in the Spartanburg County GOP structure is a "diehard conservative", you're way off.
Congrats on the win for your side though. We have a long, long way to go til the primaries. It'll be fun. :)
Congrats to Hunter and his supporters too.
Aren't Sean and Rudy both New Yoikers?
His record (other than his campaign-speek) indicates he won't appoint Scalias!
Hunter is the most conservative among them, so I'm not surprised that he got a lot of votes. But it's also interesting that despite being known as a liberal, Rudy won there. If Rudy can win in South Carolina, it means he can win in anywhere else too. We'll see if Hunter can win or get #2 in CT or NH.
I dig your tag line
Once he gets some press, it could happen. Hunter's home district is 2:1 Democrat.
Enjoy all this info on my candidate :)
- Rudy tossed Arafat out of a city sponsored celebrations saying, "I would rather not have someone who has been implicated in the murders of Americans there, if I have the discretion not to have him there”.
Frontpage Magazine
- Rudy did the same to Fidel Castro at a Dinner.
Answers.com Personalities – Rudy Giuliani
- When a Saudi prince donated millions to 9/11 relief efforts and later suggested that United States policy in the Middle East may have been partially responsible for the attacks, Rudy returned the money.
CNN
- Rudy refused to meet with racial arsonist Al Sharpton.
Right Nation
- Rudy as mayor was strong on law and order. Rudy said that "government exists above all to keep people safe in their homes and in the streets, not to redistribute income, run a welfare state, or perform social engineering" . And Rudy backed this all up by going after both quality-of-life crimes and serious crimes. Total crime went down by some 64 percent during the Giuliani years, and murder went down 67 percent. Auto thefts went down on average about 80,000 per year.
Bureau of Justice Statistics – U.S. Department of Justice
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy supported the police when the police had to enter and deal with Muslims at a mosque.
Village Voice
- Rudy closed down many porn shops across the city and specifically shutdown porn shops in residential neighborhoods.
Reference.com – Rudy Giuliani
Bureau of Justice Statistics – U.S. Department of Justice
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy went after both low level and high level drug dealers for the first time in the cities history.
City Journal
Bureau of Justice Statistics – U.S. Department of Justice
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy had zero tolerance for quality of life crimes such as squeegee extortionists, graffiti vandals, panhandling and public urination.
City Journal
Samoa
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy launched a welfare revolution, removing illegal recipients, cutting the rolls by 20% the first year alone and dropping the welfare rolls by 600,000 over the course of his plan.
NY POST
Mayor Giuliani Delivers Eighth And Final “State Of The City” Address
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy launched a work requirement program for the remaining welfare recipients. the NY Times called it slavery.
Mayor Giuliani Delivers Eighth And Final “State Of The City” Address
NY Times
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy constantly spoke out against illegitimacy and fatherless families. One of many things that Rudy said on the subject was the following: " If you wanted a social program that would really save these kids, . I guess the social program would be called fatherhood.
" Rudy Giuliani “State of the City” Address
Mayor Giuliani Delivers Eighth And Final “State Of The City” Address
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy objected to affirmative action. Rudy ended the cities set-aside program for minority contractors.
CA Political News
- Rudy rejected the idea of lowering the job requirement standards for minorities and woman. - Rudy said. "it was unfair to expect middle-class kids to work their way through college by holding down jobs and going to classes while exempting students on welfare from working.
" CA Political News
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy reformed the public school system and forced out liberal chancellors who wouldn't install his reforms.
A Plan to Reform our Public Schools-and the Commitment to Go Further
- Rudy tried to privatize 5 of the cities worst public schools.
Heartland
A Plan to Reform our Public Schools-and the Commitment to Go Further
- Rudy was for school vouchers Rudy said, "The whole notion of choice is really about more freedom for people, rather than being subjugated by a government system that says you have no choice about the education of your child,".
A Plan to Reform our Public Schools-and the Commitment to Go Further
- Rudy fought against public money for an art display that defiled Christ and he fought against other obscene so-called works of art.
Daily Nebraskan
- Rudy played hardball with city unions winning concessions from city workers that other mayors had failed to do.
NY Times
Union Politicking in the N.Y.C. Elections
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy strong armed state leaders to merge the cities Housing Police and Transit Police into the NYPD saving the city hundreds of millions. Rudy did this by threatening to fire every housing and transit officer and rehire each as a city cop if legislative leaders did not go along.
NY Times
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy did the same with the city’s garbageman, many of whom worked only half days because the department was so overstaffed with union jobs. Rudy won $300 million in savings from them by threatening to contract out trash collection to private companies.
City Journal
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy cut or killed 23 levies and taxes, saving taxpayers $9.8 billion during his terms.
Manhattan Institute
GoVote.com
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy cut NYC's top income-tax rate by 20.6%.
A Budget for a Strong and Stable Economic Future
GoVote.com
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Local NYC taxes on a family of four dropped 23.7% during Rudy's term.
Manhattan Institute
GoVote.com
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy cut the commercial-rent tax.
Columbia.edu
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy cut sales taxes, including taxes on clothing.
A Budget for a Strong and Stable Economic Future
GoVote.com
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy cut the marriage penalty on taxpaying couples.
GoVote.com
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review>
- Rudy cut taxes on commercial rents everywhere outside of Manhattan’s major business districts, and various taxes on small businesses and self-employed New Yorkers.
Mayor Giuliani Delivers Eighth And Final “State Of The City” Address
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy's expenditure growth averaged 2.9% annually, while local inflation between January 1994 and December 2001 averaged 3.6%.
Urban Futures
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy privatized municipal assets.
Reason Public Policy Institute
- Rudy sold WNYC radio for $20 million, WNYC-TV for $207 million, and NYC's share of the U.N. Plaza Hotel for $85 million.
Scripps Howard News Service
- Rudy divested the City from the New York Coliseum adding $345 million to city coffers.
Second Inaugural Address by Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani
- Rudy let the private Central Park Conservancy manage Central Park.
ABC News
- Rudy cut NYC's hotel tax from 6% to 5%. Consequently, hotel tax revenues increased from $135 million in Fiscal Year 1995 to $239 million in FY 2001.
The Entrepreneurial City Archives of Rudolph W. Giuliani The Manhattan Institute
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- When asked if Rudy would raise taxes after 9/11 Rudy said that would be "a dumb, stupid, idiotic, and moronic thing to do.
" American Spectator
- A quote from Rudy on his economic philosophy: “City government should not and cannot create jobs through government planning. The best it can do, and what it has a responsibility to do, is to deal with its own finances first, to create a solid budgetary foundation that allows businesses to move the economy forward on the strength of their energy and ideas. After all, businesses are and have always been the backbone of New York City.
” City Journal
- Construction permits increased by more than 50% in the city per year during Rudy's terms.
Mayor Giuliani Delivers Eighth And Final “State Of The City” Address
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Tourism increased 50% in the city per year during Rudy's terms.
NYC.GOV
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- City jobs increased by 430,000 to an all time high of 3.72 million during Rudy's terms.
City Journal
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- City personal income increased 50% during Rudy's terms.
CapitalCA News
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- The percentage income that city residence paid in taxes declined from 8.8 to 7.3 percent during Rudy's terms.
City Journal
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Unemployment in the city went form 10.3% to 5.1% during Rudy's terms.
The Claremont Institute
New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Fiscal Record: 1993-2001 – Deroy Murdock – National Review
- Rudy was an outstanding leader during the 9/11 crisis.
Time Magazine
- Rudy has been a strong supporting in our WOT including supporting the mission in Iraq.
Counsel on Foreign Relations
- Rudy was chosen by Ronald Reagan in 1981 as an Associate Attorney General placing him in the third highest position in the Reagan's DOJ.
Wikipedia
- In 1983, Rudy was appointed by Reagan to be U.S. Attorney for the SD of NY. In that position, Rudy amassed 4,152 convictions including the heads of NY's so-called "Five Families". Rudy also prosecuted terrorists and illegal immigrants.
Wikipedia
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