| Region could be key in 2004 races COLUMBIA - With the presidency and control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance of next year's elections, the Republican National Committee's top official made an early visit Friday to the Palmetto State to pad the party's already strong membership. The GOP holds a delicate 51-seat advantage in the Senate, and there are 33 seats up for grabs. Nineteen are held by Democrats, including those of Sens. Zell Miller of Georgia and Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, who are retiring, committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said at a roundtable discussion with reporters at the state Republican Party headquarters. To ensure victory, the GOP wants to enlist 3 million new voters nationwide before the presidential election in November 2004. The new votes could be as important for ensuring President Bush's re-election as they would be for stealing Democratic Senate seats, Mr. Gillespie said. The committee chairman spent the afternoon looking for new Republicans at the University of South Carolina, but he said the party would dedicate more time looking for voters in black, Asian and Hispanic communities that the GOP cannot stand to ignore. "We welcome Chairman Gillespie's visit to South Carolina, but we're skeptical of the Republican Party's ability to compete for African-American votes," said Nu Wexler, the executive director of the state Democratic Party. What's clear is that the Palmetto State and the South as a whole will play an important role in deciding the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans in the 2004 election. Mr. Gillespie said he was confident Republicans could take the open Senate seats in Georgia and South Carolina, along with those held by Democratic Sens. John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida, who are running for president. "Every day (they) run a bad presidential campaign, they run an even worse Senate campaign," he said. "And they're running bad presidential campaigns." Mr. Edwards and Mr. Graham must differentiate themselves from a field of nine Democratic candidates, none of which left Mr. Gillespie "with butterflies in his stomach," he said. "There are nine candidates with four different positions on Iraq. They have three different positions on tax relief," he added. "They are a party in disarray." If Mr. Edwards and Mr. Graham gain support in Iowa and New Hampshire, which will hold the nation's first caucus and primary in 2004, they stand to get a warmer welcome in South Carolina, which will hold the South's first primary Feb. 3. "You might say we're the doorway to the South," said Bob Botsch, a political science professor at USC Aiken. "We were that last time around for George Bush," who went on to win the presidency after winning South Carolina. It's difficult to say how important South Carolina could be for Democratic candidates, as it shares the Feb. 3 primary date with four other states. "The closer you are to the front, the more influential you are," said Dr. Botsch, adding that South Carolina would give Democrats a taste of what to expect as they make their way around the South. "South Carolinians aren't that much different than other Southern state voters," Dr. Botsch said. "In a sense, it's kind of an early poll of the South." Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 279-6895 or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
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