Norman Raises 415K, I Get a Free Dinner......

I attended the Sumter County GOP meeting last night. My being there is not unusual, they are the only county that meets on the first Thursday. Meanwhile, three counties meet on the second Thursday. I did get to meet Ralph Norman , the GOP's handpicked choice for Congress in the 5th District. He was friendly, and asked me a lot of questions, most of my answers being " It's hard with no fundraising". I really wanted to ask him for Karl Rove's phone number, but I resisted. Park Gillespie was in Sumter last month, so having met both now, I can compare the two. Ralph Norman has a voting record to back up his views, limited though it is, and he is a decent speaker - better than I am, but not really motivating. Park Gillespie is motivating. If Park were debating John Spratt, I have no doubt that he could kick Spratt's monotonous , confusing propaganda around the room. Unfortunately for Park, Norman has all the big guns behind him. His press release today said he raised $415,000 in 2 1/2 months, about 400 times what I did. We did finish even in one department - we both got dinner last night! Either of them will have a good chance in November, and having both of them running is actually a good thing, because they will need the practice and name recognition. However, might makes right in politics, and this looks like Norman's year.