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GOP official urges local party to keep advancing ideas, fielding candidates

Jay W. Ragley, political director of the South Carolina Republican Party, speaks to members of the Orangeburg County Republican Party during Thursday evening's meeting at Capt. N' Pete's Seafood on John C. Calhoun Boulevard. CHRISTOPHER HUFF/T&D

Republicans "won 80 percent of our races in 2004, and the reason why we won is because we talked about issues that mattered," says Jay W. Ragley, the South Carolina Republican Party's political director.

"We talked about abortion. We talked about school choice. We talked about same-sex marriage and protecting traditional marriage. We talked about limited government," he said.

"These are issues that are not easy to talk about to the voters, but if we didn't talk about them, we wouldn't be the dominant party," Ragley said Thursday at the Orangeburg County Republican Party's meeting.

The GOP is indeed the dominant party in Washington — controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress — and in Columbia, where it holds the governor's mansion and both houses of the Legislature.

But not in Orangeburg County, where Democrats have a lock on local offices and the county legislative delegation.

Ragley said he understands Orangeburg County Republicans' anguish over their party's success elsewhere but not in their own back yard because he too lives in a predominantly Democratic county.

"The basic thing that Republican parties do is advance ideas. How do we advance ideas? We field candidates," Ragley said.

"I give credit to the Orangeburg folks because they've fielded candidates against Sen. Brad Hutto and Rep. Harry Ott," he said.

"We're going to encourage (county) parties to field candidates in every position, because if you're not willing to compete, you're never going to be a dominant party," Ragley said.

"We take it one voter at a time, one household at a time, one precinct at a time as we advance our message," he said.

"We're going to keep talking about the same things over and over again. We're going to talk about traditional marriage; about empowering people, not government; about improving the economy through cutting taxes; keeping government out of the way of businesses; tort reform."

"Those are issues that we feel have worked in other parts of the state and it'll work here (in Orangeburg County)," Ragley said. "It's going to be a long process, but we're going to get there. Giving up is not an option."

Saving Social Security was Ragley's main topic of the evening. He said that in 1998, President Clinton said Social Security was in a crisis. Now Democrats are saying the program is fine.

"It's amazing what happens when the White House changes hands to another political party," Ragley said. "The Democrats are really talking double-speak." They "have no plan" of their own, except to be "obstructionists."

Ragley said Republicans have put "a number of options on the table" for Social Security reform but President Bush has set out three main goals: people ages 55 and older will see no change; personal investment accounts will be completely voluntary; and payroll taxes won't go up.

At the state level, one of the biggest debates surrounds a bill titled Put Parents in Charge. It will come up for a vote in the state Legislature once the budget is out of the way, Ragley said.

"School choice is a very, very hot issue in the state," Ragley said. "There is a lot of disinformation being spread by the Democrats about Put Parents in Charge. You will see us combat that."

Ragley said the issue will erode African-American support for the Democratic Party. "We're going after a voting bloc that Democrats think they can take for granted," he said.

Citing low high school graduation rates, poor average scores on college entrance tests and continuing educational woes in the Allendale County schools since the state took over, Ragley said public education leaders "have blinders on and refuse to look at the bigger picture."

"Our schools are failing," Ragley said. "We're presenting solutions to that problem. We are putting children first and not putting the education establishment first."

Ragley defended President Bush's budget proposals to reduce domestic spending and continue spending tens of billions of dollars a year to nurture democracy in the Middle East.

"We're at a crossroads in the history of that region. The president is not going to take any chances with the future of our security in that region," Ragley said.

"We have a free Iraq. Egypt is starting to say it might open up its elections to another political party. Saudi Arabia has moved somewhat toward democracy. We've seen Syria pulling out of Lebanon after they were potentially involved in the assassination of a Lebanese leader who was pro-democracy," he said.

"And yes, it's expensive: $87 billion is a lot of money. But a whole region of the world is changing. If we turn our back there now, we're going to be in a much worse world that we were before," Ragley said. "Now is not the time to cut and run."

"One American soldier lost is a great price to pay, but one American soldier lost for probably tens of millions of people who've never had freedom before is a price that is worth paying for that nation," Ragley said.

"Given the choices between a lean budget and a free Iraq and a free Middle East, I think we're going to choose freedom."

* T&D Staff Writer Lee Hendren can be reached by e-mail at lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5552.