Zoom+ Special guest: Gov. Mark Sanford, left, talks with Sen. George Allen of Virginia and his wife, Susan, before the Greenville County Republican Party Bronze Elephant Leadership Dinner at the Hyatt hotel on Friday. PATRICK COLLARD / Staff Article tools  E-mail this story  Print this story Advertisement Sponsored links

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He didn't mention his expected 2008 Republican presidential bid, but Virginia Sen. George Allen pushed an array of conservative buttons Friday night before more than 300 Greenville Republicans.

Hinting at what an Allen presidency might be like, the senator fell back on his record as governor of Virginia and spoke of tough welfare reform, lower taxes on business, a crackdown on crime and elevated academic standards for public schools.

"These are the same ideas I advocate in the U.S. Senate," he said.

On a day when Washington was rife with rumors -- that didn't bear out -- that Chief Justice William Rehnquist would join Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the retirement rolls, Allen said President Bush's nominees deserve "a fair up or down vote," not obstructionist tactics from liberal Democrats.

"The role of a judge is to apply the law, not invent the law," Allen said and cited the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling unconstitutional the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance as an example of judges straying far afield.

"This is what's at stake," Allen said.

Democrats took notice of Allen's visit.

Lachlan McIntosh, the state party's executive director, issued a statement in Columbia that described Allen's visit as "another stop...on his bait and switch presidential tour."

McIntosh said, "South Carolinians are going to hear from Sen. Allen more re-warmed Washington rhetoric steeped in tightly scripted, focus-grouped talking points. Sen. Allen is living in a land of make believe where politics guide every statement and every deed, and the needs of regular Americans take a back seat."

The event, the county party's annual Bronze Elephant Dinner, was broadcast nationally on C-SPAN.

Contenders for the House 24 seat worked the crowd with a greater sense of urgency than that facing Allen. They're prepping for an Aug. 14 primary and Oct. 4 general election for the seat vacated by former House Speaker David Wilkins, now ambassador to Canada.

Two Republicans who will square off next year, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Mike Campbell, son of former Gov. Carroll Campbell, worked the crowd, although it was Bauer, as an incumbent, who got the head table seat and a brief speaking role.

While the event, and Allen's presence, helped bring out the state's top-elected Republicans, Sen. Jim DeMint was there, but senior Sen. Lindsey Graham was not.

Graham, who turns 50 today, said in a letter read to the crowd that he is "spending time with my family and my HMO."

Allen is unlikely to be the last to visit the county that can provide more than one of every 10 South Carolina presidential primary votes.

He attended an event in Columbia earlier and is to appear at a breakfast gathering today in Charleston.

Allen is among a half-dozen or more potential candidates for the seat President Bush must vacate in January 2009.

It's at least Allen's third visit to the state in little more than a year. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee has made four trips and former New York Mayor Rudolph Guiliani and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have made the trek. Operatives for Arizona Sen. John McCain have been in contact with in-state political consultants.

Allen, like other unofficial contenders, doesn't talk about presidential aspirations. He has acknowledged the importance of the state's first-in-the-South primary in the nominating process.