On the Trail: Feisty as Ever

01-17-2008

I've made my way over to a John McCain pep rally and speech here in cold, rainy Columbia, S.C. I was at a Fred Thompson event a few hours ago at a local diner but this event has a different feel.

You have about 300 people or so cramped inside a white tent outside of McCain's campaign headquarters. 

These people are on fire for McCain. It's an older crowd than a Huckabee event but there are some youngsters here too.

When McCain took the stage here, he was surrounded by Washington bigwigs like Lindsey Graham, Tom Coburn and Jack Kemp. His Washington pals are part of the package McCain is selling which is that he is tested and ready to go and it gives him the appearance of a frontrunner.

As for his remarks, he talked about how he, "will restore your trust in Government." 

And when it comes to the war he said, "We will never surrender. They will." Spending and the economy were a big part of his stump speech, too. 

He talked about putting Alan Greenspan in charge of a commission to oversee the tax structure in America. 

Then came a hilarious line where he said Greenspan will head the commission whether he's alive or dead! And if he's dead, McCain says, he'll prop him up and put glasses on him like the movie, "Weekend at Bernie's". The crowd loved it.

On the social issues, which are very important down here in South Carolina, he made sure to mention judges and how he'd appoint strict constructionists to the Supreme Court. That got a huge ovation.

The polls show the race in South Carolina to be a close one between McCain and Huckabee. While Huckabee has a natural appeal to Evangelicals, McCain has a lot of factors going for him too. 

The locals down here say patriotism, integrity and strength of character matter greatly. McCain plays well to people who put that as the top priority. 

Yes, that means he'll get a lot of support from military veterans but don't be fooled into thinking that it doesn't include Evangelicals too. 

I have said for months that Evangelicals don't JUST vote on the life and marriage issues. It's more complicated than that. National Security is of utmost important and that's part of the Evangelical attraction to McCain in this state.

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