South Carolina Ping 
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Posted on 08/26/2015 7:54:28 AM PDT by conservativejoy
ANDERSON, S.C. — Jeff Duncan, the popular and conservative representative from South Carolina's Third Congressional District, held his fifth annual Faith and Freedom Barbecue Monday night. The Anderson Civic Center was packed with 1,800 to 1,900 Republicans who came to hear leading GOP presidential contenders Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Scott Walker.
I'll have more to say about it later; included in the crowd were people representing some key trends and cross-currents in the Republican race. But for now, a quick look at the bottom line.
The candidates spoke in Walker-Carson-Cruz order. Before the speeches, I talked to a lot of people with a broad mix of loyalties. There were plenty of Cruz fans — he definitely won the sign competition after his volunteers put up dozens of posters along the road leading to the building. But there were Carson fans, too, and some for Walker, plus supporters of some candidates who weren't there, like Carly Fiorina. More than anything, there were people who said they haven't decided, although if they had to make a short list, the night's speakers would probably be on it.
It's probably fair to say that each man did well but none was at the top of his game. Walker covered a lot of territory — national security, the Second Amendment, health care, taxes, religious freedom, Iran, China, voter ID, abortion, and other topics — but left the crowd a little mystified by not mentioning immigration. It wasn't that he didn't make immigration a central theme of this speech — it was that he didn't mention it at all. Late in the speech, a woman in the crowd yelled, "What about the border? What about the border??!!" Walker, burned in recent days by missteps over birthright citizenship, did not respond.
Carson is affable and appealing on stage, and he was even more so at times Monday night. Like this moment, when he mused on his critics and doubters in the chattering class: "I know that a lot of the pundits and the so-called politically elite say, 'Carson, are you kidding me? He's a neophyte politically. He doesn't have any elective experience. He can't possibly know anything about anything. He's an idiot savant.' You know, they just go on and on and on…" Carson lost a little steam as his remarks went on, but by that time he had a lot of the crowd on his side.
Cruz spoke last and opened on a particularly gracious and well-received note. "Wasn't it tremendous to hear from Scott Walker and Ben Carson — two incredible conservative leaders," Cruz said. It was a smart thing to do, and a crowd that was already with Cruz became even more so. Cruz went through his agenda — repeal every word of Obamacare, "rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal," secure the border, end sanctuary cities, move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and more. He threw in several jokes and a bit of piety — "No man who doesn't begin every day on his knees is fit to stand in the Oval Office" — but most of all delivered an almost martial address that brought the crowd to its feet.
After the event was over I asked people who they thought did best — not who they supported, but who they thought did best. I set out to ask 50 people, but ended up overshooting the mark and asked 53. The result: 44 said Cruz did best, six said Carson, and three said Walker.
It was more lopsided than I would have guessed, although it should be noted that several people added that while they did not necessarily intend to vote for Candidate A, they thought he did best. Still, according to my extremely unscientific look, Cruz did very, very well with the Faith and Freedom crowd.
There hasn't been much polling in South Carolina, at least compared to the number of surveys done in Iowa and New Hampshire. The most recent poll, taken by the Augusta Chronicle in the first days of August — that is, before the August 6 Fox News debate — had Cruz tied for seventh place in South Carolina. But surveys in other states and nationally suggest Cruz has gotten a boost from the debate, and in Anderson Monday night it seemed as if almost every one of the attendees had watched. Maybe Cruz isn't as popular all around South Carolina as he was at the Civic Center, but it seems hard to doubt that he's moving up.
If any of these candidates want the hears and minds of the rank-and-file Southerner, they best not be seen with Nikki Haley or Lindsey Graham. Both make the monumental mistake of calling for the removal of the CBF.
They neither defended the fact that that flag is not about race, but about resistance to tyranny, states rights, and represents the proud heritage of the South.
Graham and especially Haley are - or should be - radioactive to those south of the Mason-Dixon line.
If they want the south, shun those two.
That’s ‘hearts and minds’. Sorry for the typo.
South Carolina Ping
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Ted Cruz called the flag issue one for the states to decide on their own.
Donald Trump said it belongs in a museum but he’s a magic candidate so it doesn’t really matter what he says.
It’s not that. He’s a yankee, so of course he doesn’t understand. I imagine there are things in his upbringing/ heritage that he feels as strongly about. Maybe, being exposed to the South more in the coming months, he can be enlightened to why it’s so important to us and so deep in our hearts.
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Cruz on to victory!
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Its not important to me in itself as a Yankee but what are important to me are the 1st and 10th amendments. Also there is the fact that Confederate soldiers were made 100% the same as all other American veterans, war dead etc by an act of congress. That should also apply to the symbols those men fought under.
The sons of Union Civil War veterans officially support the display of the flag their Confederate brothers fought under. They even take part in placing the Confederate battle flag on Confederate graves.
The whole thing irritates me because it was never an issue until it started popping up 20 years ago.
from your lips to God’s Ear
Thanks for the ping.
Articles like this give me hope. I’m so tired of people telling me the Senator doesn’t have a chance.
He does.
He threw in several jokes and a bit of piety — “No man who doesn’t begin every day on his knees is fit to stand in the Oval Office” — but most of all delivered an almost martial address that brought the crowd to its feet.
Most people still need to understand how solid this man is. He will represent ALL of us well. I’m all in for Ted Cruz.
As a Southerner with a heritage that goes back through the South, this purge infuriates me. But I can take into account that everyone in the different regions of America has different cultural experiences.
It was an ignorant thing to say. Maybe somewhat careless. I certainly winced when he said that about putting it in a museum- I was not on board with him, or anyone, at that time. As a Southern Nationalist, the odds of secession drop to almost zero under Donald Trump. But given the state our country and our society is in, I believe he is our best hope at recovering and restoring a great part of what we’ve lost. He is a leader & not one other candidate can claim that or prove it.
Fair enough.
Just I personally think the truth should be spoken clearly by our elected officials about the flag. What it stands for is not trivial.
My guy is Bobby Jindal (even though it doesn’t look like he’ll be pulling big numbers this time around) and I’ll have to go back and see how or even if he chimed in about the CBF.
I’m guessing Jindal said something about it but its only because the media was running from GOP candidate to GOP candidate like dogs in heat.
I honestly don’t get the Carson thing. I’ve never made it through one of his speeches because he just puts me to sleep. I don’t see him as Presidential. He doesn’t have a leader’s persona, not someone I want across the table from Putin.
This is why we have primaries, may the best man/woman win.
Ted Cruz is still my first choice and that of my husband.
However, we will both be surprised if we have elections as usual in 2016.
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