GREENVILLE, S.C. — Nearly a dozen Republican 2016 contenders for president made their case Saturday to some of this critical state’s most committed conservative activists — the boots on the ground they’ll need to win here and secure their party’s presidential nomination.
They’re polite down south, so everyone who spoke before a capacity crowd of 2,200 at the South Carolina Freedom Summit in the conservative region of the decidedly conservative Palmetto State was granted a standing ovation upon entering and exiting the stage. But not all salutations, or crowd reactions, were created equal.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker revved the auditorium up to kick off the proceedings, and was clearly a favorite; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, another popular contender, re-energized the room after lunch, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina closed the event strong. In between, others made an impression. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida; Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal; former Texas Gov. Rick Perry; retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson; businessman and television star Donald Trump, and others.
For the undecided voters — and there were many — who ignored a beautiful spring day in Greenville and sequestered themselves inside the Peace Center performing arts venue, it was a first chance to take the measure of the deep and crowded GOP field. At issue: Who do they like; who do they think is presidential; could they see themselves volunteering for; and who can beat presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton?
To break it all down, the Washington Examiner spent the day in the auditorium balcony with Gil and Nancy Thomas, two undecided voters from nearby Clinton, S.C. The two are acquaintances of Rep. Jeff Duncan’s (the South Carolina Republican also hails from Clinton) and were in Greenville looking for a horse to back. Gil, an optometrist, is 59; Nancy, a homemaker, is a little younger. They have four children and seven grandchildren between them.
“She’s my No. 1, Jindal’s my No. 2.,” Nancy Thomas said upon the conclusion of the program, in regard to Fiorina and the Louisiana governor, when asked who scored the most with her.
The couple voted for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, and former Sen. Rick Santorum in 2012. Neither was very familiar with the new crop of candidates before Saturday. “Just to hear everybody speak and hear all the information and see the enthusiasm that people want to get our country back strong again, because that’s what so upsetting to us is seeing us weaken,” Gil Thomas said.
Candidates for several months have periodically parachuted into South Carolina, host of the third presidential nominating contest on the GOP calendar and first in the Republican-dominated South. But the weekend cattle call was the first opportunity for local activists to gauge each one after the other, in close proximity. Of the major candidates, only former Florida Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky were no-shows.
There is no clear favorite at this early stage, said a dialed-in Republican operative in the state who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly. And, once the voting starts, performance in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, which come before South Carolina, are likely to influence the voting here, as they usually do.
Social issues matter in South Carolina, but the state is more ideologically diverse, with business, national security and party Establishment interests holding sway along the coastal low country and the midlands around the state capital of Columbia functioning as a mixture of that and uber-conservative Upstate.
“This crowd is the active of the activists, they represent a small percentage of the Republican electorate,” the GOP operative said. “Do they make phone calls and knock on doors for candidates? You bet and they’re important. But keep in mind the mainstream Republican voter doesn’t go to their county party meeting and doesn’t go to the state convention.”
Back in the hall, Gil and Nancy Thomas were taking notes, figuring out whom they might want to make calls and knock on doors for. Here’s a sampling of their reviews immediately after each contender spoke:
Walker:
Nancy: “We thought he was a great speaker. We love all his values … Personally, I like that he’s pro-life. Second, I like the fact that he believes America can return to what we once were because we’re not the America we once were.”
Gil: I loved him because of the business part … All the taxes, they’re taking everything away from us and we can’t hire as many people as we used to.”
Perry:
Gil: “I like the governors the best; I think they have the more well-rounded messages about the safety, the security, the money and just watching out for the local people.
Trump:
Nancy: “Trump’s missing something. What he’s missing is getting to the heart of women. He is missing getting to my heart. I love everything he says, I’d vote for him; he’s not talking about pro-life [issues]. “He needs to talk to women’s hearts.”
Gil: “I love him — because he’s strong, because America looks so weak to everybody in the world. He is going to make us strong again.”
Rubio:
Nancy: “We do like him, we like him a lot. He needs a fire lit under him. He needs something.”
Gil: “I think he’s good, I think he has a lot of ideas. But I just don’t know if he’s going to be able to [make it.] … He just didn’t have that fire right now. He seems like he’s learning a lot. We always like him, though.”
Cruz:
Nancy: “I liked a lot of him, and we are undecided. So he’s in the running. I could vote for him, but I’d rather have a governor.”
Gil: “I thought he did great. That’s more what everybody wanted to hear. I think he actually believes everything he’s saying. He seems like he has a handle on what he’s going to run with.”
Jindal:
Nancy: “I loved him … I’d seen him on the news once or twice and I thought he had the same values. But now that I’ve seen him, he may be one of my top picks.”
Gil: “He was great. The faith-based [discussion] is very important to all of us in South Carolina. But I also liked the way he delivered his message. I think he could go across the country and tell people what he thinks and let them understand it.”
Carson:
Nancy: “I loved him, but I’ll vote for Jindal over him.”
Gil: “He is faith-based, but he actually is smart enough to come up with solutions to everything he was talking about.”
Fiorina:
Nancy: “When she said the name of Jesus Christ and she said she would [call Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu [on her first day in office,] those were the two things that clinched her end to me.”
Gil: “I thought she was great; that was the first time I’d heard her speak.”
Disclosure: The author’s wife works as an adviser to Scott Walker.
