FROM THE DESK OF: Support the Primary

There’s been a lot of talk recently about South Carolina and its “First in the South” Republican presidential preference primary.

Several local governments in the state have taken a “sky is falling” approach and decreed that their counties will not participate in January’s primary election because they aren’t going to foot the bill with taxpayer money.

On the one hand, bravo! At first blush, that’s a fiscally responsible decision, but when you dig just a little deeper, there’s so much more to the story that hasn’t been considered.

First, South Carolina is a “carve out” state. It has a special place on the Republican primary calendar because we 1) reflect the views of a large segment of the national voting population and 2) the sizes and costs of our media markets are affordable enough to create a playing field open to more candidates.

What does that have to do with anything?

Think about it. With several South Carolina counties, LARGE South Carolina counties, openly appearing to opt-out of the primary process or challenging the process in court over the past couple of weeks, presidential campaigns have been a little nervous to come here, and understandably so.

Sure, we have the “First in the South” primary, but top-tier candidates aren’t looking at that fact and saying, “The most effective use of my time, resources, and media dollars is in a state where the biggest counties won’t participate in the primary.”

They’re allocating time and resources elsewhere. That means they’re spending less money to hire state-based staff, rent office space, lure people to town hall meetings at restaurants in towns you’d have to be from South Carolina to have heard of, run media tours that showcase the state, and, well, you get the idea.

Second, there are some who say that the primary doesn’t matter, that it’s not a real election. Really?  That’s ridiculous. It’s a very real election. After all, how do delegates cast their votes at the Republican National Convention?

For South Carolina, a winner-take-all primary state, the top vote getter in the January primary gets the votes of the state’s convention delegates. If our counties thumb their noses at the primary process, those county governments will consciously disenfranchise large influential voting blocks and may skew vote totals for a candidate who might not otherwise win – giving our state’s votes to someone who might not be the state’s real choice.

In the state with the “First in the South” primary, a gateway to the rest of the nation, and has a history of picking the eventual GOP nominee, there’s a lot at stake — both politically and economically.

The state Republican Party has said repeatedly that the costs will be covered. Local governments need to cool their jets or at the very least have frank discussions with South Carolina Republican Party leadership about the true cost, funding, and operation of the January 2012 primary. Not doing so and passing ordinances or filing law suits off of knee-jerk reactions is costing the state more than those folks realize.