GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Republican dog and pony show hits Upstate South Carolina on Saturday as nearly a dozen presidential hopefuls pitch conservative activists during a forum on economic freedom.
The Palmetto State hosts the third nominating contest of the 2016 presidential primary and first in the Republican-dominated South. That makes South Carolina a critical battleground in the race for the GOP nomination, even though the state’s streak of picking the party’s presidential nominee was broken three years ago. Upstate South Carolina is considered the conservative bastion of this decidedly red state.
Scott Ramsey, a 47-year-old Republican voter from Spartanburg who showed up at a local barbecue joint Friday evening to meet former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, said he’s excited for the campaign to get underway.
“I’m trying to give all of the candidates a fair opportunity to get my vote,” said Ramsey, who is in the funeral business and said the attribute he’s looking for most in a candidate is leadership.
“I’m looking for a leader, somebody to do what they say they’re going to do and turn this country around.”
The South Carolina Freedom Summit is jointly sponsored by Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-S.C., and Citizens United. The conservative group is known mostly for the lawsuit it filed that led to the Supreme Court overturning certain federal campaign finance regulations and paving the way for the creation of political organizations known as super PACs. The cattle call features most of the announced, and unannounced, presidential candidates, plus a few members of Congress.
Confirmed speakers include Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, businessman and television personality Donald Trump, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former New York Gov. George Pataki, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businesswoman Carly Fiorina.
Also confirmed are former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., now the president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think, along with Rep. Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina; immigration hawk Rep. Steve King of Iowa, Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and New Hampshire state Rep. William O’Brien.
Although economic freedom is the theme of the summit, it won’t be surprising if the contenders talk social issues. Upstate South Carolina is the more socially conservative part of this conservative state, with national security and fiscal issues predominating in the coastal low country. The Midlands around Columbia, the state capital in central South Carolina, is a sort of mishmash of the other two regions.
Gwen Young, 63, who runs a franchise business with her husband in Greenville, said she voted for Huckabee, a one-time Baptist minister who campaigned on his social conservative bona fides when he ran for president the first time, in 2008. Young plans to support Huckabee again because she said he has “honesty and integrity” and wants a presidential candidate who will focus on the economy and govern with “morals and ethics and what made America great.”
“We can’t let it all go down the tube because of politics,” she said.
Names not on the confirmed list and expected to be absent from the summit include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is delivering the commencement Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Liberty, founded by the late Reverend Jerry Falwell, bills itself as the largest Christian university in the world.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won’t attend due to a family commitment. Huckabee wrapped his first week as a presidential candidate Friday with a campaign stop in Greenville. Other absentees include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Disclosure: The author’s wife works as an adviser to Scott Walker.
