McMomentum For McCain On Money
ARIZONA SENATOR KICKS OFF NEW YEAR IN SOUTH CAROLINA WITH A BIG MONEY BANG
FITSNews – January 5, 2007 - The conventional wisdom was pretty simple.
If Senator John McCain was going to avoid the same campaign-killing buzzsaw that awaited him in South Carolina in 2000, he would have to win over key political and financial supporters of the man who crushed him here seven years ago, President George W. Bush.
If this morning’s front-page story in The State newspaper by reporter Aaron Gould Sheinin is any indication, mission accomplished.
McCain’s steady stream of endorsements over the past few months has already left little doubt as to his frontrunner status in South Carolina this go-round, but whatever lingering doubts may have existed about his ability to pull former key Bush allies into his tent were shredded with the release of this morning’s list.
S.C. “Bush Behemoths” like Bob Royall, Eddie Floyd, Larry Wilson, Mack Whittle, Don Leonard, Joe Edens and Doug Wendel are among the names included on McCain’s 2008 South Carolina Finance Committee, which may be the most formidable campaign finance organization ever assembled in Palmetto State politics.
Of course, not all of the names on the list are philosophically-aligned with the now slightly less-maverick Arizona Senator. Some are the political equivalent of fair weather fans, sticking their fingers in the wind to see which way it’s blowing.
Take S.C. State Ports Authority Chairman Bill Stern, for example, whose ability to insert himself like an annoying chigger within successful political organizations (irrespective of party or ideology) is fast becoming the stuff of legend in South Carolina political circles.
A source close to McCain’s South Carolina organization told FITSNews Thursday evening that Stern – who was Gov. Mark Sanford’s finance committee chairman in 2006 – asked to have his name included on the finance team at the last possible minute, once he had seen the other names on the list and was told that an announcement to the press was imminent.
Which brings us to the subject of the governor, who was one of McCain’s most aggressive supporters in 2000 while still a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Will Sanford endorse McCain?
The governor told Sheinin a week ago that he has not made up his mind yet about getting involved in the 2008 race, but a burning question among S.C. political insiders is whether or not a non-intervention policy would be consistent with previous promises the governor has made in this race.
Stay tuned …
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