Jan. 18, 2008
S.C. GOP Chair Says Electability Is Key
Political Players: Katon Dawson Assesses The GOP Field And Talks About What His State Wants In A Candidate
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Katon Dawson (AP Photo)
CBSNews.com: Jimmy Carter is the only Democrat in recent history who has carried South Carolina. Do you think there's any hope for a Democrat to win South Carolina in a general election this time?
Katon Dawson: I do not. I mean, 2006 in one of the worst cycles we have ever had in Republican political history, modern history, but South Carolina Republicans won eight out of nine statewide offices.
We have two United States senators, and have a good organization on the ground here and a well-organized Republican party. And we would certainly relish a presidential fight here, but I cannot imagine that presidential candidates on either side would be trying to affect the outcome here after these primaries are over.
CBSNews.com: Let me go back to a few more of the Republican candidates. Fred Thompson has essentially said that South Carolina is must-win for him. Why has it been so hard for him to get ahead there?
Katon Dawson: Well, I cannot tell you that he is not clearly ahead because I have thrown the poll numbers out the window now. Everybody who has been in the lead has only kept it briefly. We have lots of undecided voters, there is a huge question about exactly how many people are going to vote on Saturday.
That being said, I think that it matters which campaign team you've got on the ground and how long you have been campaigning here. Now that stuff is really paying off.
CBSNews.com: So it’s hurt Thompson that he started so late?
Katon Dawson: I would say it has. But I don’t think it is decisive. Senator Thompson has a pretty powerful message, certainly a powerful presence, and is very well known in the Republican electorate. Whether that turns into votes at the ballot box is certainly going to be up to Team Thompson.
CBSNews.com: And how do you assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Huckabee campaign in South Carolina?
Katon Dawson: Well, I have seen Mike Huckabee and his voters here off and on for over a year and a half working South Carolina, and have been just amazed at his personal intellect and his appealability to Republicans in South Carolina. And, you know, I think he has got a good chance.
He has certainly surprised people in Iowa. And I think he has got a high expectation for South Carolina.
CBSNews.com: And finally, let me ask you about Rudy Giuliani, because for a long time we were hearing that--among a lot of conservatives--national security trumped moral values issues, and therefore Giuliani could be competitive in states like South Carolina that ordinarily would not be hospitable to a pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights, New York City mayor. Do you think that the focus is back on domestic issues, and that is why Giuliani is not doing as well down there?
Katon Dawson: Well, the mayor is campaigning, but certainly not as dedicated to this state as other campaigns, in my opinion. The mayor was here helping us in 2006 raise money when we had those tremendous wins in South Carolina.
And so I saw his appeal to ordinary South Carolinians on the war on terror, his firm stance on crime, and also the thing that I saw the crowds were really taking to was the fact that he cut taxes in New York, governed one of the largest economies in the world, and was a conservative.
And the social issues get mixed in, and again, this has not been a single-issue election. But with that being said, the campaign teams that are on the ground here right now are getting a lot more attention.
CBSNews.com: So you have to be both a national security and a moral values conservative to win in South Carolina, in your view?
Katon Dawson: I would say you have to be both. I think you have to have an entire package that is acceptable, along with the electability question.
Katon Dawson has been chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party since 2002. He is the fifth-longest serving state GOP chair in the country--and widely considered a possible national Republican party leader. He is the owner and operator of four Burns Auto Parts stores in Columbia, South Carolina, and a longtime GOP activist and member of the Republican National Committee. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Dawson is married with two children.
By Brian Goldsmith
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More From Political Players
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- HILLARY CLINTON ROCKS!
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- Ron Paul stands for everything that Hillarceny is not,....a true Constitutionalist. Yes, there is a "CONSTITUTION PARTY" which is already the third largest and the fastest growing in the United States. (constitutionparty.com)
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- Gotta be Romney or McCain. Huckabee won''t survive outside the Bible Belt. In an event, a Hillary nomination will help the GOP.
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- Mitt Romney%u2019s great business success:
In 1992, the firm acquired American Pad & Paper. By 1999, the year Romney left Bain, two American plants were closed, 385 jobs had been cut and the company was $392 million in debt.
The next year, Ampad was forced into bankruptcy.
Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs bought Dade International for about $450 million in 1994.
The firm quickly fired or relocated at least 900 workers. Over the next several years, it sunk increasingly into debt and laid off 1,000 workers.
In 2002 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A 1997 buyout of LIVE Entertainment for $150 million resulted in 40 layoffs, 1/4 of the company''s workers.
The job cuts affected all aspects of the company from production and acquisition to legal and public relations.
In 1997, Bain bought a stake in DDI Corp., a maker of electronic circuit boards.
3 years later Bain took the company public and collected a $36 million payout.
By August 2003, the company filed for bankruptcy, laying off over 2,100 workers.
Four months after the bankruptcy, shareholders sued company executives, the initial public offering underwriters and Bain for mismanaging the IPO and failing to disclose company financial information. - Reply to this comment
- The most corrupt institution in America, our wolfpack press, HATES Mitt Romney and like a wolfpack are working together to hurt him anyway they can. Lies, distortions, censorships, smears are all part of their plan to stop Mitt BEFORE he can win the GOP nomination.
Mitt can''''t help it that he''''s the only one that''''s running a 50 state campaign. The other guys like Slick Huck and Lone Ranger McCain are just cherry picking states they don''''t have the money from donors, like Mitt, and don''''t have the organization, like Mitt.
It''''s really silly the GOP nominee should be Mitt Romney.
......GO MITT !! - Reply to this comment
- You''re right, I don''t read polls, and I don''t like the idea of another Clinton White House either; I''m not alone in this by a long shot.
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- 100ker,
I can tell you don''t actually read the polls. Romney trails both Obama & Clinton in head-to-head matchups...badly!
Huck beats Hillary but loses to Obama.
Only McCain is competitive against both Dems; he beats Hillary and is behind Obama but with enough undecidieds to have a chance.
As a Democrat I''m psyched to see Romney winning because he''ll be the easiest Repub to beat in November(excluding Dead Fred). - Reply to this comment
- The Pubs may not agree, but the Huck and Mitt are the two who can best unite the party, and pose a better threat against the Dems. Either will be a blowout of Clinton, but even with Obama.
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- Posted by kansas1946 at 09:39 PM : Jan 18, 2008
Still ragging on the old abortion krap? Still want to tell others what do because you think you know what''s best for them?
Another legislate morality nut...geezus. - Reply to this comment
- But what is a libertarian voter?
Someone who will let you do what you think is best, pays their own way, and minds their own business.
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Really?? So if I think it is best and pay for my own abortion, Mr. Paul will mind his own business? Hmm...I didn''t think so. - Reply to this comment
- Electability is huge. People want to know who could take the fight to the Democrats and retain the White House. I cannot tell you who that is right now.
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LOL. If "elecability is huge" then they better write in a Democrat when they vote. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by random_radar at 06:18 PM : Jan 18, 20
lol, well said, also, hahahha! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by antoniof123 at 03:23 PM : Jan 18, 2008
Yes, Antonio, well said! - Reply to this comment
- Posted by Hwy71So at 02:52 PM : Jan 18, 2008
I hear ya. There were a couple of democratics that I like too, with tons of experience and good judgment.
I do know one thing. Maybe two, lol
It takes TWO parties to run this country. And the Neocon regime in the White House is NOT the real republican party of the United States of America. I am a yellow dog, bleeding heart, pinko commie democrat. But many times I have stepped across party lines and voted for the candidate rather than the party. And this year, I just can''t do it.
I was raised a Southern Baptist, and there''s no way I can vote for Huckabee. He just flat scares the hell out of me. And he is almost the only one that has stepped up and criticized this regime somewhat. And I like a FLAT TAX proposal. Not Fair Tax, but Flat Tax. And still I can''t vote for him. I think he would take this country back 50 years. Guiliani is nothing but a crook. And Romney talks out of both sides of his mouth.
Geeezus, we''re in a mess! - Reply to this comment
- What''s an evangelical voter?
Someone who knows whats good for you and intends to use the government to make you do it--and tax you to pay the costs.
What''s a liberal voter?
Someone who knows whats good for you and intends to use the government to make you do it--and tax you to pay the costs.
What''s a conservative voter? A socialist voter? A fascist voter? A moderate voter?
What''s a voter?
Someone who knows whats good for you and intends to use the government to make you do it--and tax you to pay the costs.
But what is a libertarian voter?
Someone who will let you do what you think is best, pays their own way, and minds their own business.
If we all voted for Ron Paul and had a libertarian government, at least we would be free even if we weren''t happy. - Reply to this comment
- "What is an "evangelical voter"?
Posted by oladywho at 03:28 PM : Jan 18, 2008"
Someone who knows whats good for you and intends to use the government to make you do it--and tax you to pay the costs. - Reply to this comment
- "S.C. GOP Chair Says Electability Is Key"
Wait, the head of the South Carolina GOP has come to the conclusion that being electable is an essential element to being elected?! Alert the media! - Reply to this comment
- Go McCain.
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- its nice of him to take time away from text messaging his teenage male interns to answer these questions.
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- What is an "evangelical voter"?
Posted by oladywho at 03:28 PM
Answer: These would be the idiots that got us into the Iraq War and two terms of Shrub. - Reply to this comment
