Tuesday, Jun. 09, 2009

In the spin room, everybody's a winner

EDITOR'S NOTE: Originally published in The Sun News on Jan. 22, 2008

While some high-ranking members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democratic Party continued to withhold their endorsements after Monday's Democratic debate, they agreed that Myrtle Beach was a clear winner

"I think South Carolina won. I think Myrtle Beach won," said U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia, during his stop in the spin room, or news conference room, after the debate.

"I've been a part of many of these kinds of things. I don't think I've ever seen something this big run as smoothly."

Clyburn praised the city, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, the National Association for the Advanced of Colored People and everyone else involved.

That praise was echoed by others. U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, had never visited Myrtle Beach until this trip.

"The cooperation was the best I've ever seen on any of the events I've been associated with," Thompson said. "The local government and business community stepped up in a mighty way."

Before the televised debate began, Clyburn, Thompson and others joked about Monday's un-beachlike weather. But even the 40-degree day won fans.

"I love Myrtle Beach. I particularly love the warm temperatures," said Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, noting that he started his day in Burlington, Vt. "It was minus 3 degrees when I got up this morning."

The candidates' representatives who stopped by the spin room each brought similar messages: Their favorite had the best showing, sometimes under trying circumstances.

"I thought she showed her strength, I thought she stood her ground," said state Rep. Terry Alexander, D-Florence, a Hillary Clinton supporter. It was important for people to see that she could be strong in the face of a challenge, he said.

"This is not 'American Idol' that we're running here."

He said the candidates' stands' on health care should be of interest to residents of the Pee Dee region, where infant mortality and heart disease tend to run high.

Columbia Mayor Bob Coble, a John Edwards supporter, said the tiff showed his candidate can stand cool and calm in a storm.

"I thought the other two were over the top," Coble said. "That was not useful to anyone, particularly Democrats."

But the second part of the debate was very good, he said, with all three getting down to a more substantive discussion of the issues.

Toward the end of the debate, Obama touted his appeal to voters outside the Democratic Party, and Edwards described his appeal in rural areas.

South Carolina has skewed Republican in every presidential election since 1980. Were Obama and Edwards really suggesting that South Carolina could be a swing state this year?

"Circumstances could develop where that could happen," Clyburn said.

"We've got an economy that's tanking. If world markets continue the way they performed today, people are going to start looking strongly at their pocketbooks, start looking strongly at their quality of life and they're going to get beyond the artificial things that divided us in years past."

Republicans rose to power in South Carolina by waving the Confederate battle flag, Clyburn said. "That's going to get real old as people think about whether or not they're going to have a job," Clyburn concluded.

In Mississippi, Thompson faces a similar situation: a Democratic member of the Congressional Black Caucus in a state that is otherwise overwhelmingly Republican and largely rural.

"Clearly, candidates who write off certain areas of the country are making a big mistake," Thompson said. "You've got to expand the message, grow the party, if you really want to win."

Essential to that will be campaigning in the state, said Sally Howard, former chairwoman of the Horry County Democratic Party - something few candidates do after the primaries.

What about Horry County, another Republican stronghold?

"That'd be a tough call," Howard said. Then, noting the number of Republicans in the audience Monday night, Howard said: "Maybe they'll see the light."