April 17, 2007
SC: McCain Endorser Votes For Romney in Straw Poll, May Withdraw Endorsement
All of you who read my post from earlier this week know that McCain has managed to receive the endorsements of a majority of the state legislators from the state of South Carolina.
And all of you who read an even earlier article know that it is straw poll time in South Carolina as each county holds their county conventions this month. As a result, many of the candidates are down in South Carolina for extended stays: Giuliani, Brownback, Hunter, and Romney were/are all down there, and probably some of the other candidates as well.
One man conspicuously absent from working the county conventions is John McCain, and the grassroots folks are taking note. Some are even comparing it to his missing the CPAC, Club for Growth, and the Heritage Foundation conferences earlier this year. And his absence might cost him, too, in the areas of not only grassroots activists but endorsers as well:
State Rep. Thad Viers of Myrtle Beach was one of 40 Statehouse Republicans who earlier this year endorsed McCain. But Saturday, Viers was at the Horry County GOP convention wondering where McCain was and listening to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
“He gave a great Reaganesque speech. I liked him so much I voted for him in the straw poll,” Viers said.
Viers hasn’t yet decided to withdraw his support for McCain, but will if McCain’s doesn’t steer away from an immigration law compromise he’s been developing with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. “I think he is taking people for granted,” Viers said. “You can’t assume that people are voting for you.”
McCain is continuing his strange tactic of avoiding places where conservatives are gathered (and where the rest of the candidates are). His answer to all who are wondering where he is?
McCain’s camp says his calendar precludes him from attending, and that the candidate prefers to speak to smaller crowds for longer times than conventions allow.
While some question McCain having prior commitments during the SC convention season, he is doing two things to try and soften the blow of his absence: sending proxies and counting on his money buying support:
His campaign has contacted delegates with mailings, staffed tables at the events and sent surrogates to speak for him. The stand-ins include former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, who is to speak for McCain at conventions in Spartanburg, Laurens and Richland counties this weekend… Boling said McCain’s campaign…is instead focusing on building a support network in part by donating money to local GOP groups and candidates. He said the campaign made $180,000 in donations before the November election.
As we await more straw poll results, it will be interesting to see if McCain’s lack of campaigning at the county conventions will continue to cost him support in the state.
http://race42008.com/2007/04/17/sc-mccain-endorser-votes-for-romney-in-straw-poll-may-withdraw-endorsement/trackback/
April 17th, 2007 at 11:00 pm
I don’t understand this. It’s not like any of these meetings/conventions/party conferences were just scheduled last week. All the other candidates seemed to have known about them. There must be a legitimate reason why a candidate, or why a campaign manager, would allow this to happen as many times as McCain. Ticking off the base has never been a sound strategy in any campaign but that is exactly what he’s doing. Anyone know what possible benefit there is to the way McCain is handling these events - I may not agree with his reason but I’d like to hear one. (This is a serious question, not an invitation for attacks on McCain and his conservative credentials. I’m really interested in why any campaign would choose to do this.)
April 17th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
McCain may have reason to think he’ll do better if people don’t get tired of him.
There’s a fine line between wearing out your welcome and being Mr. No-show.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
McCain’s tactics are bizarre. What is he trying to achieve? Unless he changes course rapidly, he is in major major trouble.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Schedule conflict or not, there is such a thing called prioritizing! There is nothing more important to attending to your supporters, other than attending the Virginia Tech Memorial or seeing to a dying family member, which he seemingly is not doing.
April 17th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
jake,
The conventional reasoning goes like this: McCain is perceived as the frontrunner in South Carolina. If he was down working the straw polls and still lost them, that would look really bad for him. So it’s a calculated gamble to work these polls, and one that McCain evidently thought it better not to risk.
However, he’s walking a really fine line of not showing up making him look bad as well…
April 17th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
Yeah I guess I could understand it if he was WAY ahead in the polls and still shows up to a few of these events, but he seems to be missing most of the important ones recently. I’m no campaign strategist but it makes very little sense to me to tell your supporters or potential supporters “I’m too far ahead to mingle with all of you.” Especially when you’re not all THAT far ahead. With all the questions about how much or how little conservative the other top tier candidates are, McCain is missing so many golden opportunities to show off his own credentials (which he does have).
April 18th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Yes, he can answer the hard questions better than the other two in the top tier. He does have that lifelong commitment to policies conservatives hold dear.
Makes it all the more puzzling really…
April 18th, 2007 at 1:14 am
[...] HeavyM and Rep. Viers wondered where he was on Saturday? Why, he was in Des Moines, Iowa giving a speech at the Lincoln Day Dinner. Kavon even provided photographic proof. Now, you don’t have to convince me that John McCain is an amazing human being, but even he is incapable of being in two places at once. I tend to think that that qualifies at a scheduling conflict. Let’s be fair and not forget Mitt’s own “scheduling conflict” last month either. [...]
April 18th, 2007 at 1:25 am
when did Keaton back McCain?
April 19th, 2007 at 1:21 am
[...] choice to skip the county conventions in South Carolina are really starting to hurt him. First it was a state Representative who had endorsed McCain but voted for Romney in the Horry County [...]