Thread: As Trump and Cruz surge in South Carolina, GOP establishment options limited to stem

As Trump and Cruz surge in South Carolina, GOP establishment options limited to stem the tide


Emma Dumain Jan 30 2016 12:15 pm


WASHINGTON — In any other election cycle, South Carolina Republicans would be siding with the establishment. Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio or even John Kasich might be leading in the polls. But this year, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are giving national GOP leaders an elevated case of heartburn as this first-in-the-South primary state appears — once again — headed on the same uncontrollable course that saw Newt Gingrich embarrass Mitt Romney in 2012. The difference now is the stakes are higher.

As things stand, either Trump or Cruz likely will be the victor of the Feb. 20 South Carolina GOP presidential primary. Both are outspoken, right-speaking conservatives who some consider interlopers — labels they wear as badges of honor, even as more mainstream Republicans fear they could ultimately make the party, and its so-called “establishment,” obsolete.

“The politicians and the political people who think they run the country? They’ve always been the ones who think they can pick who is going to be president, and they can’t do that in this instance because people are tired of it,” said former S.C. state senator Jake Knotts of West Columbia, who supports Trump. “And the people are going to show them they don’t run the country.”

Cruz supporters, such as former S.C. Attorney General Charlie Condon, offer a similar perspective, though they argue the sitting U.S. senator from Texas has the practical experience to justify his frustration.

“There’s a huge segment of our primary electorate that is angry right now, and they do want an outsider — I think Ted gets that,” said Condon, a co-chairman of Cruz’s state campaign. “He knows how Washington works, he’s already taken on the Washington cartel and he’s got this record of accomplishment there.”
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., whose potential endorsement in the primary could carry great sway, said South Carolina voters “don’t mind a good fight. We don’t mind walking to the beat of a different drummer.”

But he added the candidate alignments now playing out in the Palmetto State may not be as out of the national Republican mainstream as some are portraying. “I would not make much of suggesting that because we nominate someone, or a vast majority of our citizens vote for a candidate, we may be outside the realm of normal for other states. It perhaps means we’re ahead of the game.”

At the same time, with polls in South Carolina consistent with polling around the country, Scott argued, “it’s not a South Carolina position as much as a national position.”

Correction course?

If Scott’s analysis is correct, there’s potential for South Carolina Republicans to get back on the course they enjoyed for decades, where in every presidential primary since the 1980s they picked the GOP candidate who would go on to lead the national ticket. The one detour from that path occurred four years ago when South Carolinians backed Gingrich, the former U.S. House Speaker from neighboring Georgia. Right now that’s seen as a hiccup rather than a permanent split from the status quo.

In 2012, Republicans were already at a disadvantage going up against a Democratic incumbent. In 2016, many Republicans are irate over the possibility that Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton — seen as having plenty of liabilities — would stand a chance of beating Trump or Cruz, neither of whom are seen as GOP unifiers.

“I think Hillary Clinton’s a flawed candidate,” said U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who recently left the candidate field. “So how do you lose this election? You nominate somebody who shrinks the party, doesn’t grow it. You nominate somebody that continues the problems the party has with Hispanics.”

Those who share this sentiment, like former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., say the state’s voters shoulder a great burden ahead of primary day.

“We stopped Pat Buchanan in 1996,” said Inglis, who runs a Virginia-based nonprofit focused on building conservative coalitions around climate issues. “He won New Hampshire but then he came to South Carolina and we stopped him. We can play a pivotal role again. I hope that the buying period is different than the shopping period.”

But the two candidates continue to surge, particularly Trump. He won the endorsement last week of S.C. Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, a move underscoring the inevitable, Knotts said. “The politicians are coming around to realize that Donald Trump is somebody that’s going to be the future of the Republican Party.”

Should establishment give up?

If Knotts’ perspective is the new trending view of the GOP masses in South Carolina, then what can anyone who wants to stop it, do to stop it?
“You just speak up,” Graham said. “What more can you do?”

Endorsements could help, Graham said, but only if those giving endorsements are willing to put words into actions. In his own endorsement of Bush, the former Florida governor, Graham said he’s aiming to give Bush credibility on national security issues, plus encourage his old campaign allies to transfer their allegiances.

Some Republicans hope Scott and S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley will take a stand before the Feb. 20 primary, viewing them as likely partners in the crusade to curb Trump’s and Cruz’s momentum. Haley, however, so far has not succumbed to pressure, and Scott insists he has neither made a decision nor ruled anybody out.

Graham, for his part, said he didn’t fault anybody who didn’t want to enter the fray.

“What I’m trying to do is make an argument to the people of South Carolina that our primary matters,” he said. “We got a chance to reset the race, to create a viable alternative to Trump and Cruz, to give the momentum to the point where maybe they can’t be stopped, or create an opportunity for another person. If South Carolina could broaden the choice that the Republican Party has, that would be successful.”

Emma Dumain is The Post and Courier’s Washington correspondent

http://www.postandcourier.com/articl...1603/160139953

“We stopped Pat Buchanan in 1996,” said Inglis, who runs a Virginia-based nonprofit focused on building conservative coalitions around climate issues. “He won New Hampshire but then he came to South Carolina and we stopped him.

Stopping Pat Buchanan is not something to be proud of!