Does America want to look like South Carolina?

“Bachmann adds to South Carolilna Tea Party coalition

By NBC's Ali Weinberg

Columbia, S.C. -- Michele Bachmann announced 19 additional members of her South Carolina Tea Party coalition today, including three who will serve as her regional co-chairs: Steve Rapchick, a 9/12 leader, as Lowcountry chairman; Person Baines, a former Perry supporter, as Midlands chairman; and Tea Party activist Jonathon Hill as Upstate chairman. In addition to Tea Party supporters announced last week, Bachmann’s Tea Party coalition in the Palmetto State now includes 56 members.

"I once was a strong Perry supporter. Now, as we move closer to the election, I see that Michele Bachmann’s consistent conservative record is what our country needs. We don’t need more Washington-insiders or pretend conservatives like Newt Gingrich,” Baines, of Columbia, says in a release to be sent out tomorrow by the campaign.

The full list of new members:

Steve Rapchick, Mount Pleasant 
Preston Bains, Columbia 
Jonathon Hill, Anderson 
Jeff Diemier, Mount Pleasant 
Robert Fry, James Island 
Lynda Fry, James Island 
Jim Hargett, Greenville 
Rick Moesser, Fountain Inn 
Scott Napier, Greer 
Virginia Jelley, Taylors 
Harold Blitch, Charleston 
Gerald Addision, Berkley 
Linda Addison, Berkley 
Raye Chapman, Daniel Island 
Tom Russo, Jr., Bluffton 
Bob Mcewen, Savannah (former Cain supporter) 
Austin Jones, Greenville (former Cain supporter) 
Shelia Morgan, Hilton Head 
Tom Morgan, Hilton Head”

“South Carolina voters torn between values, economy

By Michael A. Fletcher, Published: July 8

MULLINS, S.C. — The South Carolina Republican primary has accurately predicted the GOP presidential nominee for the past three decades, often in campaigns that revolved around guns, God and gays.

That track record has established the state as a firewall that snuffs out insurgent candidates who may gain traction in the smaller, quirkier and far less diverse early-primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

But with South Carolina saddled with a 10 percent unemployment rate — one of the highest in the nation — the struggling economy is upending the priorities of many so-called values voters, forcing GOP candidates to rewrite their campaign playbooks.

South Carolina’s pivotal role could be enhanced in 2012 because the state is suffering economic woes that both Iowa, with its 6 percent jobless rate, and New Hampshire, where unemployment is 4.8 percent, have managed to avoid. Nevada, another early caucus state, has an even higher unemployment rate than South Carolina’s, but does not have a history of determining the GOP nominee.

“Every cycle, South Carolina is interesting,” said Bruce Ransom, a Clemson University political scientist. “Here you have the values voter versus the economic conservatives. Now, we have economic hard times hitting people who believe very strongly in social issues. It will be a good test in terms of sorting out which message has the sway.”

For much of her adult life, Karen Christmas has been an unabashed values voter. A longtime Sunday school teacher and recent GOP activist, she said issues such as school prayer, gay marriage and abortion used to top her list of priorities as she evaluated Republican presidential candidates.

But since losing her job of 28 years when the Blumenthal Mills textile company shut its doors, the dire state of South Carolina’s economy has been foremost on her mind.

“As I look at candidates, economics is No. 1, because I can’t find work,” said Christmas, 54, a married mother of two grown children who has not had a full-time job since 2009. “They say if your neighbor loses his job, it’s a recession; when you do, it’s a depression. Well, I have a depression going on.”

These days, the GOP candidates swinging through the state are playing up their economic credentials to appeal to such voters.

Former Utah governor and ambassador Jon Huntsman was in South Carolina recently, telling voters about his business experience with his family’s chemical company. Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.) delivered a tea party-inspired message last week about the need to cut government to spur economic growth.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who finished fourth among GOP candidates in the state in 2008, has been here pitching his business experience. Tim Pawlenty, who served two terms as governor of Minnesota, has appealed to voters here by emphasizing both budget discipline and religious faith.

Meanwhile, all of the GOP candidates, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who served as a Pennsylvania senator, have promoted their conservative stances on social issues. But they also have been careful to tout lower taxes and less government regulation to boost the economy.”