The Texas Republican's supporters dominated the crowd of more than 150, many of them Greenville Tea Party members, who gathered in a ballroom of the Hyatt hotel to take in the first-in-the-country 2012 Republican presidential debate.
With each Paul response during the debate, supporters loudly cheered and whooped for the Republican — most notably during a response in which he voiced support for states' rights to legalize narcotics — and jeered other candidates whose responses were deemed unsatisfactory.
Just after 11 p.m., about a half hour following the conclusion of the debate, Paul took to the ballroom stage to address a crowd that had swelled to more than 300 people and said that he's getting close to formally declaring his candidacy for the Republican nomination.
"Stay tuned," he said.
Lynn and Mike Miller of Easley are members of a political action committee supporting Paul, and they attended Thursday's debate-watching event.
The couple said Paul's message of personal liberty and limited government has a special resonance with groups such as the tea party and college students.
"You get the message of personal freedom and liberty and it's infectious — that's why the supporters are so passionate," Mike Miller said.
Lynn Miller said Paul reawakened her political participation during his 2008 presidential run, and said she plans to deliver the congressman her vote should he decide to run.
"He's the only one who's constant and has a track record," she said.
Paul was expected to be the runaway winner of a straw poll taken in the hotel ballroom later in the night that included more than 20 of the top candidates for the Republican nomination.
Chris Lawton, an organizer with the Greenville Tea Party, said he's keeping his options open but has always been a "Paul guy."
Underscoring the importance of candidates' building inroads in the overwhelmingly conservative and politically active Upstate, Lawton said about 80 percent of the Republican delegates from Greenville County planned to attend and vote for the state party chairman at Saturday's state GOP convention.
Many of those delegates also belong to the 1,000-plus member county tea party group, he added.
Lawton said the Republican presidential candidates who decided to skip Thursday's debate — many of them tagged as the thoroughbreds of the Republican race — made a significant misstep.
"Who said they're frontrunners?" he asked.
"These people that came to the debate took a leadership position and came to South Carolina. South Carolina voters are going to remember the people that skipped South Carolina."
Lawton said he will "make it a point" of ensuring the absent candidates pay a political price.
The group's advisory board still must decide whether it will back a candidate or candidates in the 2012 election, but Lawton said endorsements are likely.
No comments:
Post a Comment