GOP gathering for debate after BBQ
21 candidates invited to discuss issues important to campaigns
Spartanburg Herald Journal
By Jason Spencer
5/11/08
A boatload of Republican state and local candidates will sit down to eat pork Monday night before they spend two hours talking about cutting it, among other things.
Twenty-one candidates have been invited to a forum hosted by the Spartanburg County Republican Party. The debate begins at 7 p.m. at Ron’s Family Restaurant. The event will feature questions by Herald-Journal Editorial Page Editor Mike Smith, Hometown News reporter Leon Russ and WORD radio personality Bob McLain.
The panel also can opt to ask questions submitted beforehand by the audience.
“What I’m trying to accomplish is to let the general public come and see all the candidates for all the local contested primary races at one time,” county GOP Chairman Rick Beltram said.
“It helps when you can compare a House race in one area with a House race in a nearby area. I think everybody realizes that nobody can go down to Columbia and say, ‘I’m going to hold down spending.’ You can’t do it by yourself. It has to be a group of people … forming a working majority to get things passed.”
The format is simple. A question is posed, and each candidate has a chance to respond. If they choose to respond, they’ll have one minute. A three-person panel of judges will determine whether someone is allowed a 30-second rebuttal after a response.
For instance, if incumbent Rep. Keith Kelly doesn’t answer a question, there would be less pressure on his challenger, Roger Nutt, to answer that question — and vice versa. But if one candidate from any given race answers, it’s a safe bet the others competing for that seat will interject, too.
About 100 tickets are left (out of an initial 300) for a pre-debate dinner that begins at 5:30 p.m. A short county GOP executive committee meeting will take place between dinner and the 7 p.m. debate.
The two candidates in the 4th Congressional District and the two for U.S. Senate have been invited to speak for up to five minutes each before the debate starts.
Campaigns of incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis and his challenger, Charles Jeter, both confirmed they will be there. Incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham will not be able to attend because of business in Washington, his campaign said, but he is sending state House Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith to speak in his place. The campaign of Buddy Witherspoon, who is challenging Graham, has confirmed he will be there.
Each candidate has been given a short questionnaire on about a dozen issues, ranging from school consolidation to impact fees to an added tax on cigarettes.
The results from those questionnaires will be compiled and handed out to the audience before the debate begins, Beltram said.
The barbecue restaurant is just north of I-85 on Highway 9.
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