Saturday, June 23, 2012

Tom Rice Hits Up the 'Locals' in Florence ....

Horry Council Chair Has Lunch Meet & Greet With Florence Voters at Local's Restaurant on Second Loop....


     About 72 hours from now, all of the polls will be closing, and we'll have our candidate on the Republican side for the 7th Congressional District seat.. Maybe it's because we spent all day pulling carpet and installing laminate flooring, or because the AC went down the tubes, and it's 84 degrees inside the house - or maybe because the tenor of the campaign has gone down with it - but we can't have the end come soon enough....


    Naturally, all runoffs seem to end up with both candidates arguing with each other, and the staff getting more and more immature and angry.  It comes with the territory... But, just like that 10th hour of a 12 hour road trip, you start to get antsy for the end to come, and for everyone to get back into that familiar, comfortable area of hating Democrats... It's been six months plus of unending infighting in the GOP, and we're tired.



    Tom Rice seems tired of this a little too.  Runoffs are the ugliest part of campaigning, and to us, it seems against Rice's constitution.  With all the attacks against him from Andre Bauer's campaign, he's had to go into more of an upset and agitated mode.  He's such a level guy, that it's hard to tell how genuinely mad he is over the barrage of ads, some of which even we will admit are a bit distortive.. We probably saw him as emotional as we ever will today, and even then, it was Spock-like... The man just doesn't let his emotions out, or he is a robot!  We're pretty sure he's not, though..



Even during the meet and greet at Local's, Bauer's staff wouldn't let him go... In the parking lot, one of Bauer's staffers left flyers on all the cars windshields.  We wouldn't call it a very classy move, but these campaigns often have younger, hungry people working for them, who don't always do the smartest thing.... Chalk it up to youthful enthusiasm.  




    It didn't bother Rice much, but some of the FCGOP staff, who are clearly for Rice, were more than displeased with the stunt.. You can't blame them.  It really was a waste of time, because we don't expect anyone who was here would have changed their vote from a flyer.  In our opinion, anyone who bases their vote on a flyer or a TV ad should probably have their voting rights taken away. Then again, who'd be left?


    It was already a pro-Rice crowd, so Tom basically stuck to the basics: he touted his resume, then admitted that he unfortunately also had to place a negative ad at the last minute.  He spent a bit more time having to defend himself against the attacks than he probably would have wanted to, but that's the point of negative advertising, right? To throw your opponent of his/her game.. 


   Not that it's a guarantee it will work for Bauer.. Rice has an advantage in his native Horry County over Bauer, so if he can pulls a decent share from the Pee Dee, beating Bauer is very possible.  He did get the endorsements from Florence County Treasurer Dean Fowler, outgoing Coroner Bubba Matthews, and former Johnsonville City Councilman Brad Richardson, who all spoke for him today.  It's also obvious he is also getting support from the FCGOP once Jay Jordan dropped out.   Is it enough? We'll see..


   While the repetitiveness of campaign stops can be tedious for all of us, reviewing the eateries never is... The food at Locals is good, but it was frigging expensive!  I got a Western Burger, which was a 1/3 lb angus patty with cheddar cheese, jalapenos and BBQ sauce, which was about $7.50 (with no fries) and adding in fried pickles and a Pepsi was $12.00 !!!!  Honestly, for that money, I'd go to Five Guys or Cook Out and spend half that, and have more to eat.  It was good, but not THAT good..



    If you still haven't seen Rice in Flotown, and you are still sitting on the fence (which we hope you wouldn't be by now), he will be back at Locals for lunch on Monday... It's 87 degrees now at 1100PM, my AC guy still hasn't called, and the hardwoods are going slowly and poorly.  Maybe that's why this post seems so cranky.  Don't expect any different tomorrow I guess..


.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Polling in this race? Heard of any? Somebody has to have an idea who is ahead in this thing.

Thoroughbred 401k said...

I've heard rumors about it, so I haven't posted them. No media have done one either... I could call a friend or two and see if there are any internal polls, which I hate. It's going to be pretty close, so it will likely be determined by who gets the vote out.

TJ said...

Following this race, my feeling is that Andre has a slight advantage although I'm just going on gut. The Tea Party groups, Huckabee, local endorsements, and especially the NRA seemed to give Bauer some momentum. I think the negative ads against Rice and moderate charge also have taken their toll. Not sure if Rice being from Horry and his late counterattack can offset Bauer's conservative grassroots strength. Does Haley change anything is also an unknown. Just have the feeling Bauer should win this, though could be wrong.

Anonymous said...

To report that "the FCGOP staff were clearly for Rice" is similar to stating "the earth is clearly round" or that "August is clearly hot." It is very obvious most of FCGOP is supporting Tom Rice, R-Burroughs and Chapin.

Thoroughbred 401k said...

Like I said Anon, there isn't much left to report on this race! Everything has been said, and everyone has thrown their two cents in... We're just waiting for the votes to come in, and for us to have our candidate.

Anonymous said...

Tom Rice is about as interesting as watching paint dry. I think the paint may have more of a personality.