Democrats tap youth for primary energy, volunteers

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Joe Erwin, elected this spring to lead the state Democratic Party, faced a daunting task of recruiting more than 4,000 volunteers and raising about $500,000 to stage the state's only presidential primary next year.

It's an event he and other Democrats hope will steer volunteers and voters into the party's elections for the U.S. Senate and the Legislature.

Fowler said the presidential primary will be "a practice day" for the U.S. Senate race for the seat currently held by 38-year veteran Democratic U.S. Sen. Ernest Hollings. Hollings has not yet indicated whether he will seek re-election.

Fowler said Democrats needed a new political network to leverage their energy. In Columbia, she said Young Democrats had 300 people show up for organizing events. A Charleston event had a similar turnout.

"I never knew I'd meet so many new people and make so many new friends. We have many bright people in this state who just never had an outlet. We've met all the goals we've set for ourselves so far," Fowler said.

Erwin said the party had about $100,000 when he took over in the spring, but that's largely committed to party administration.

He said he has about $60,000 in pledges for the primary. A new party fund-raising staff member will begin work later this month. And former party chairman Dick Harpootlian will serve as party development director.

On Aug. 4, Democrats will honor Hollings and U.S. Reps. Jim Clyburn and John Spratt at a $1,000-per-ticket dinner to help pay for the primary.

Erwin turned to a largely untapped reservoir of energy and networking skills, the Young Democrats, as the organizational engine for the presidential event. He said the challenge is daunting, but doable.

"I haven't looked in the mirror lately and seen an "S" on my chest," he quipped. "We are making good success, but have a long way to go."

The primary is strictly a party-run event; state election officials are not involved.

He said total volunteers so far have reached 2,100. Their names, collected centrally by the party, will be passed on to county organizers for follow-up.

"We must have a contingency plan" to rush in stand-by workers if scheduled poll workers fail to show up, he said.

"They are so communicative. They all have cell phones and PDAs. Troubleshooters will be able to call and say, 'Katie Fowler, we need Young Democrats at Mitchell Road School, and they have to be there in five minutes'," Erwin said.

"We going to model this exercise like the fire department and EMS units. I want to test all the communications, and test our groups with key roles. For example, we hope to have 250 attorneys throughout the state, to provide ballot security," Erwin said.

"By the time we get to Feb. 3, my goal is to anticipate as many problems as possible and that we know how to deal with them," he said.

The Feb. 3 primary follows closely the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, very early in next year's presidential candidate selection process.

Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University, said the dynamics of the South Carolina primary may not become apparent until the New Hampshire primary, just days ahead of the vote here.

For South Carolina-born U.S. Sen. John Edward, D-N.C., and Florida's U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, the state will be a must-win if they are to stay in the race, Black said.

The same goes for the Rev. Al Sharpton. "If he can't win in a primary where half the voters may be black, what's the rationale for him in the race," Black said.

Losing may be less a negative for New Englanders Howard Dean and John Kerry, Black said. But winning could cement a lead for either of them if they emerge from New Hampshire and Iowa with a strong position.

Other announced candidates include U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut; former U.S. Sen. Carole Moseley-Braun of Illinois; and U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri.

Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Florida, said the South Carolina primary "is beautifully positioned to have an influence."

"Suppose one candidate sweeps Iowa and New Hampshire. I don't know that any primary or caucus matters very much. But if Iowa and New Hampshire are a muddle or it's a split verdict, then South Carolina is very important as the first Southern state to vote. And because it is on the East Coast, it's going to tend to dominate results from Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma because it will be reported earlier," Sabato said.

South Carolina could bring clarity to the race, he said.

In 2000, U.S. Sen. John McCain emerged from the New Hampshire Republican primary as a serious threat to Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

But with the backing of key South Carolina Republicans, and a testing ground in the early South Carolina primary, Bush eliminated McCain from the national race.

Such national attention would be a major turnabout for South Carolina Democrats, who were all but ignored in the 2000 Democratic Party primary season.

Lieberman, Vice President Al Gore's running mate in 2000, told The Greenville News in a July 3 interview that after he received the vice presidential nomination, he had to turn down invitations to campaign in South Carolina: "The campaign wouldn't allow me to come here because they had conceded the state."

This year, Lieberman has been a frequent visitor to the state as he seeks advantage against the eight other announced candidates for the Democratic nomination for president.

Fowler, a recent graduate of Presbyterian College, said those visits by national Democratic Party figures, and the chance to work with them and meet them in person, have been powerful motivating factors for the under-35 ranks of the Democratic Party.

In September, she said the Young Democrats are planning an event for several of the presidential candidates, a "test run" of organization skills for the party.

"It will show us who we can depend upon because it will take a lot of leadership to put on this primary," Fowler said.

Marilyn Hemingway of Georgetown has been charged with recruiting about 1,000 volunteers to manage poll stations and count the paper ballots that will be used in the party-run primary in the Pee Dee region.

She said many of the young people she has recruited so far say they don't feel their voices have been heard by the current administration and they see the primary as an opportunity to speak out about a still-struggling economy and the war and continuing occupation of Iraq.

They are up-to-date technologically; their contact list has mostly cell phone numbers. They run their own computer server with a growing list of volunteers. And they'll use the personal and technological skills they've employed all their lives to build the organization that will run the primary.

The South Carolina Democrats face a test of their ability to attract voters in a state that has leaned Republican in most recent elections.

In the 2000 Republican presidential preference primary, 573,101 voters participated in that party-run primary.

In 1992, 114,892 Democrats voted in that party's only other party-run presidential primary.

Next year, with a Feb. 3 date, Erwin estimates turnout ranging from 250,000 to 300,000.

Willie Legette, political science professor at South Carolina State University, predicted a large turnout and high enthusiasm among South Carolina voters.

He said the candidates must clearly distinguish themselves from Bush.

"It may depend upon how the occupation in Iraq plays itself out," Legette said, plus the state of the economy early next year.

"Bush is going to galvanize the liberal base of the Democratic Party, and I don't think they are going to have any trouble finding these volunteers," Legette said.

South Carolina's presidential primaries have been among the nation's most pivotal for a quarter century, mostly for Republicans who were quicker to endorse the use than Democrats who, by practice and party rules, stuck by low participation precinct caucuses.

Republicans also used their primaries as party-building mechanisms, drawing new voters into the GOP fold.

Don Fowler, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said the primary "has the potential" to raise Democratic strength in local elections.

"It's a major undertaking. I believe Joe can pull it off. I think he understands there is a problem," Fowler said.

He cited the need to raise a lot of money and recruit a lot of people.

"Joe has made progress on both points," said Fowler, who has run national conventions and raised millions of dollars for the Clinton re-election campaign.

The party, at Erwin's urging, hired a telephone canvassing service and compiled a list of more than 1,200 volunteers from that one effort, Fowler said.

"That's pretty remarkable," Fowler said, noting that Erwin will need at least twice that many to open all the polling places in the state.

Over the years, and throughout the country, political parties raise more money and recruit more people to their organizations in periods leading up to presidential elections, said Fowler, who teaches political science at the University of South Carolina.

Staff writer Dan Hoover contributed to this report.