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Web posted
Sunday, January 25, 2004
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Lowcountry prepares for primary
JASPER COUNTY: Feb. 3 event expected to shift spotlight to South Carolina.
By Mark Kreuzwieser
Carolina Morning News
Sharpton here today
The Rev. Al Sharpton will visit Jasper County voters at a 2 p.m. campaign office ribbon-cutting at 107 W. Main St. in downtown Ridgeland. He'll then be at First Euhaw Baptist Church at S.C. 462 and S.C. 336 in the Old House community at 3 p.m. And, then at 7 p.m., he'll appear at St. Stephen AME Church at 710 Main St. in Hardeeville.
Candidates' frequent flyer miles
South Carolina will host on Feb. 3 the first Southern Democratic presidential primary for the November general election. Other states with primaries the same day are Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota and Oklahoma.
Jasper County politicos can't remember the last time there was so much excitement over a Democratic presidential primary.
The voting booths of New Hampshire will barely be closed before the wave of Democratic presidential hopefuls is expected to turn to South Carolina's Feb. 3 primary.
"I'm seeing signs up already for John Edwards, and I anticipate we'll start seeing the others beginning next week," said long-time Jasper political activist and former state representative Juanita White.
"The momentum's building this weekend in New Hampshire, and it's going to keep building right up through Tuesday and then into South Carolina," she said.
Democrats are organizing and running the Feb. 3 primary, and they're working overtime to get the voters primed to go to the polls.
"Hopefully interest will be high when the candidates arrive in South Carolina," said Jasper Democrat Party Chairman Arthur Murphy.
"We have signs out urging people to vote," he said. "It's just a matter of getting the word out that all the candidates want South Carolina. This primary is going to bring a lot of national attention to our state, and we want everyone to vote, regardless of their party affiliation."
South Carolina does not require voters to register as a member of a political party, so every registered voter may vote in Feb. 3's Democratic primary.
As of today, on the eve of Tuesday's first primary in New Hampshire, Democratic candidates are John Kerry, John Edwards, Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, Joe Lieberman, Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich.
A Saturday poll showed Kerry ahead in New Hampshire, with Dean and Clark neck-and-neck for second, followed by Edwards, Lieberman, Kucinich and Sharpton. Polls also indicate many voters still are undecided.
In South Carolina, voters have been wooed by visits from Edwards, Clark, Sharpton, Lieberman, Kucinich and former candidates Dick Gephardt and Bob Graham. Graham's southern votes will be sought by candidates as they visit South Carolina in the coming days.
"I'm extremely excited," state Sen. Clementa Pinckney of Ridgeland said. "I'm for the best person who's going to beat George W. Bush in November. Edwards is very strong but it's tough to say who's first, because Sharpton and Clark should do well in South Carolina too. And Lieberman is running strong. He visited my church on Yonges Island last year.
"There's so much excitement about this Democratic campaign," Pinckney said. "All the candidates are doing well. I don't want to commit just yet."
Murphy anticipates a close primary in South Carolina, with upsurges in the Kerry and Edwards campaigns in the Iowa caucus on Jan. 19.
"I'm not surprised Kerry won in Iowa," Murphy said.
Jasper County Council Chairman George Hood is holding his vote close to his vest too.
"I haven't made up my mind," Hood said. "I'm leaning toward two. Sharpton has a lot of good points, and he makes strong arguments, but I'm not sure if he is a viable Democratic challenger to President Bush.
"This primary will give South Carolina a real opportunity to have a voice in the presidential election," Hood said. "We'll set the tone for other Southern states.
State Rep. Thayer Rivers of Ridgeland is a Clark supporter.
"He's a very impressive man," Rivers said. "He's easily the most intelligent and interesting person I've every talked to. He's well-rounded, and I like his ideas that the United States shouldn't be in this world by ourselves. He's an international coalition builder. And he's fought and won a war on terrorism."
The Democratic National Convention will be in Boston on July 18-21.
Following are Jasper County's 15 precincts, including the absentee polling place:
Coosawhatchie, Coosawhatchie Community Center, S.C. 462
Gillisonville, Old Gillisonville School, U.S. 278
Grahamville 1, Episcopal Church Parish, S.C. 29 and S.C. 13
Grahamville 2, Ridgeland Elementary School, S.C. 13 (Bees Creek Road)
Grays, Fire Station, U.S. 278
Hardeeville 1, St. Stephen Social Hall, S.C. 46 (Main Street)
Hardeeville 2, West Hardeeville Elementary School, Church Road
Levy, Levy-Limehouse Community Center
Okatie, St. Luke Baptist Church, Snake Road and S.C. 170
Pineland, Robertville Community Center, U.S. 321
Ridgeland 1, Jasper County School District Office, U.S. 17 (Jacob Smart Boulevard)
Ridgeland 2, St. Anthony's Catholic Church, U.S. 17 (Jacob Smart Boulevard)
Ridgeland 3, Jasper County Emergency Services (Old National Guard), U.S. 278
Tillman, Tillman Fire Station, U.S. 321
Absentee Precinct, Mary Gordon Ellis Executive Building, U.S. 278, Ridgeland
Reporter Mark Kreuzwieser can be reached at 305-0004 or markk@lowcountrynow.com
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