By Robert Kittle
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke Tuesday at Columbia International University and to a meeting of the Electric Cooperatives of the state, after speaking at The Citadel Monday. Sen. Rand Paul, who officially announced Tuesday he’s running for the Republican nomination, will be in Charleston Thursday. You’ll be seeing a lot more of the official and possible candidates in South Carolina in the coming months because of the importance of the state’s Republican primary.
Perry has not announced yet that he’s running, but he talked to CIU students about the upcoming election. “I want to challenge you to really be engaged in this,” he told the students at the Christian school. “This is your future, your country and your world and God will lead you in the right direction.”
He also talked about Texas’ economy after his three-and-a-half terms as governor there, saying during that time Texas created more than one million new jobs while the other 49 states combined last jobs. “Economically, we’ve got to be strong again, which means quit overtaxing, quit over-regulating, put policies into place that will bring manufacturing back into the United States,” he told the students. He said an improving economy would generate the money needed to strengthen our military, which he said is vital because of threats from ISIS.
Charles Bierbauer, former CNN correspondent and now dean of the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies at the University of South Carolina, says you’ll be hearing a lot more about those issues from all of the Republican candidates.
“We know it’s got to have something to do with the economy. That’s always the answer. South Carolina has grown and needs to keep growing. The military attachment plays very well here. We certainly know that there’s a strong military presence, both active and retirees, so that’s a useful South Carolina message,” he says.
The only candidates who are officially in the Republican race are Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Others exploring a run in addition to Perry are Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both of whom spent two days each in South Carolina last month, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, NJ Gov. Chris Christie and Dr. Ben Carson. Other names being mentioned are Mike Huckabee and Donald Trump.
South Carolina’s primary has always gotten a lot of attention because it’s the third in the process, behind only the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Bierbauer says if candidates do well in any or all of the first states, it makes it easier to raise money and continue their campaigns, while if they don’t do well it makes it difficult to continue.
“Money follows the leaders,” he says. “It doesn’t really accrue to those who are behind unless they’ve got a very specific constituency and a very specific issue.”
