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Article published May 25, 2004
Inglis taking nothing for granted
Tony Taylor
Staff
Writer
Bob Inglis is growing accustomed to knocking on
doors.Carole Wells has supporters working the phones.And Jack Adams is waiting
for invitations.Inglis, the former U.S. representative, has spent hundreds of
hours campaigning door-to-door across the 4th Congressional District.He plans to
introduce himself to voters in Landrum today.Inglis could probably rest
comfortably on his name recognition or the $372,000 he has amassed to capture
the Republican nomination in June.But Inglis has chosen to go the extra mile --
literally."This is so important to the race," Inglis said of door-to-door
campaigning. "This is how you find out what people are talking about."Inglis
started his door-to-door campaign on March 15.At first, he picked a neighborhood
and blindly knocked on doors.But he has since refined his technique by mailing
announcements of his upcoming visit to the neighborhood.He said the results have
been surprising."Most people don't mind being impacted at their front door,"
Inglis said. "They don't mind a little bit of junk mail, but phone calls and
e-mails will work against you."Carole Wells, on the other hand, doesn't think a
phone call will hurt her popularity with voters.Wells relies on supporters to
make telephone calls to voters on her behalf."You can get to more people when
you have people doing it for you," Wells said.Wells, a former Spartanburg County
state legislator and director of the state Employment Security Commission,
doesn't have the name recognition of a former U.S. representative, and she
trails Inglis badly in fundraising.Wells said she has spent some time
campaigning door-to-door.Wells' labors have been focused in Greenville where not
as many voters know her.Jack Adams, a retired Greenvillebusiness owner, is also
running for the GOP nomination.Adams has had less fundraising success than
Inglis and Wells.The last Federal Elections Commission disclosure report showed
Wells had raised $24,830. The report, which was released in April, showed Wells
with $10,377 on hand.Inglis had raised about $372,000 and had $217,140 on
hand.Adams said he has raised less than $5,000."I'm the low man on the totem
pole as far as money is concerned," Adams said.Adams has focused on speaking
engagements at various civic groups to get his message out."I just visit
different groups who invite me," Adams said.Tony Taylor can be reached at
562-7219 or tony.taylor@shj.com