Something seems to be chipping away at Romney’s poll numbers in South Carolina, but right now it’s still anybody’s guess what that is. The anti-Bain ads should be a top suspect, but several media outlets trekked to the South Carolina town that was apparently devastated by Bain’s “vulture capitalism,” and found that most people they talked to barely even remembered the company. The New York Times reports:
In a new barrage of political advertisements and speeches here, three of Mr. Romney’s opponents in South Carolina’s primary on Jan. 21 have used Gaffney and Bain’s business practices in other communities across the country as a kind of battering ram to portray him as a job-destroying robber baron. …
There is a problem, though. Here in Gaffney, where deeply held Christian beliefs often matter more than jobs, few remember the Holson Burnes photo album plant, let alone the devastation its closing is alleged to have caused back in 1992. …
At The Gaffney Ledger, a newspaper established in 1894 that seems to cover everything from stolen mopeds to the Y.M.C.A. basketball league, the publisher, Cody Sossamon, looked through old microfilm to refresh his memory. He could not find one drop of ink that was spent on the factory closing.
“Nobody here really cares about that. It wasn’t a big deal,” Mr. Sossamon said. “We’re looking for a new school superintendent. That and the economy are what people really care about right now.”
Politico visited Gaffney and found basically the same thing. Though the paper did manage to track down one disgruntled former employee at a Bain-owned plant who was willing to speak out against the company’s practices:
“As far as I’m concerned, it left a very bad taste in my mouth,” said Bob Hayler, who ran the plant shortly after it opened in 1988. “They’re somewhat cutthroat. I’ve worked for a lot of managers over my years but they were almost an angry bunch….They were yellers. They were screamers. There were just huge demands.”
And yet…apparently not a bad enough taste to convince the guy to vote against Romney:
Now retired , Hayler says he’s “more of an independent” than a Republican, but could still see himself voting for Romney, the alleged “vulture” capitalist.
“I don’t know whether I’d vote for the man or not, but in a primary, I probably would, because he’s not as far to the right as the rest of them,” Hayler said.
The thing is, if Bain isn’t what’s driving down Romney’s poll numbers, then what is? It’s certainly possible that South Carolina voters who aren’t from Gaffney might still be turned off by the ads. Then again, the angry reception Gingrich’s Bain attacks received at Huckabee’s forum seem to suggest they’re not playing particularly well with South Carolina voters in general.
Of course, Romney’s also been under fire for his flip-flops on abortion – an issue that will obviously resonate in the socially-conservative state.
Unfortunately this post has been made irrelevant by the latest poll that shows Romney ahead of his rivals by at least 21%. See Powerlineblog.com for the details. If this holds, looks like it's Romney for sure. the GOP could do worse. Romney will get 100% of the "Kick Obama Out of Office" vote and that is a majority camp right now, unlikely to change in 10 months.
that poll is a garbage online poll. Don't be surprised if it is not accurate.
With the emergence of Ron Paul's subversion of the GOP through a Libertarian-Liberty Lobby pseudo Constitutionalist revival of semi-moribund strains of gold-standard known nothing populist salvation (with Zionist finance capitalists as the demonic enemy) I am just thankful that, at least for now, Ron is at 16% with Santorum. South Carolina conservatives may not buy that it was "illegal" for the United States to take out bin Laden but it was legal or Constitutionalist for bin Laden, "annoyed," as Paul explains, at American Empire, to whack the Pentagon and the WTC. He isn't even bothering with Florida and for now will seek out caucus and small bore states. Buy the newsletters, buy the house where Freedom lived!
eh? All Paul said about Bin Laden was that we should have coordinated with the Pakistanis, not that we shouldn't have killed the guy. As for Florida, Paul realizes it is a likely losing proposition, spending 10M plus in a winner take all state is bad strategy when he can win 10 times as many delegate in the caucus states for the same amount of money. No knock on Florida there, just a little political reality.
Sorry, Josh. I followed Ron Paul's comments very closely on the Bin Laden killing and he most definitely condemned the attack. It's actually one of the moments when I concluded that Mr. Paul really is nutty when he compared the bin Laden operation to Marines going on a raid against a London hotel. He has no business sucking up any more oxygen in the nomination room. His points about the size and scope of the fed govt are true enough but they can be made in some, other venue.
Consternation here at several Commentary analysts' fascination with the loser Santorum who's candidacy is sinking and will virtually end with bad losses in South Carolina and Florida the next few weeks. n He was irrelevant as a U.S Senator, not respected by the Republican leadership, was defeated for re-election by a whopping 18 points and did well in Iowa almost solely due to that state's outsized Evangelist vote. By the end of this month you can stick a fork in him, he'll be done.
Poor Alana. As a previous poster noted, the newest SC poll numbers make this post look pretty silly. Romney has now galloped to a 13-point lead in the RCP average and Gingrich has cratered to just a few points above also-rans Santorum and Paul. n nFunny how political punditry changes with every new set of polls. Now everybody will chatter about how Gingrich's anti-capitalist attacks have boomeranged in SC.
as I mentioned above, that was an online poll. There is a reason Real Clear Politics doesn't include it in their average. I'll be wanting to see a second poll to verify the results before I trust them too far….especially if I was a pundit.
I am not a Romney fan, but it is sad that he is being attacked from the left (by Republicans) for having a business and and making money. There should be no shame in that.
yeah, I agree especially with so much else to attack him for. At Least Ron Paul had the courage to stick up for Romney and the free market, and point out that he was being quoted out of context. Gingrich and Perry are especially odious, and Santorum piled on for a day before backing off that line of attack. Looks like the real conservative here is Ron Paul, maybe someone ought to call Limbaugh (of course they'd have to lie to get past the call screener) and let him know.
Ron Paul is a libertarian, not a conservative. Big difference.
Hello nThe last hope for freedom ,Liberty,Respect for each and everyone of us The good DR.Ron Paul. nCheck out his voting record. Did not vote foe TSA or the NDAA which have put a knife in our cival liberties he will obey and respect out constitution he is the most honest and for 99% of us. nStephen
Ron Paul is a one trick pony. He has it right on reducing the size and scope of the federal government but gets just about everything else wrong. I hope that your "last hope for freedom" line was sarcasm. Libertarianism is a nice theory but it can have no practical application in the real world. That's why Ron Paul can't bear to live in this one.