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Cheney makes rare trip to Columbia
Visit was to shore up GOP support
By Jim Davenport
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA - Vice President Dick Cheney's stop in Rock Hill on Friday shows the White House's investment in knocking Democrat John Spratt out of his U.S. House seat.
And it brings Cheney to South Carolina, a Republican bulwark where people at a fundraiser for Ralph Norman aren't likely talking about last month's accidental shooting of a hunting companion.
Most people in South Carolina thought Cheney's hunting accident was overblown, Scott Malyerck, the state GOP executive director, said.
"We have a lot of sportsmen in South Carolina. They get it. They don't look down on Cheney," Malyerck said.
But it also is a state where Spratt has been untouchable by GOP contenders. And Spratt's district, arching through 14 of the state's richest and poorest counties, is a place known for ballot-splitting voters.
Last fall, Bush adviser Karl Rove settled on Norman, a one-term S.C. House member, to take on Spratt, who has held the seat since 1982 and is the senior member of South Carolina's delegation in Washington. Spratt has used a combination of incumbency and a sprawling district to his advantage.
Bruce Ransom, a Clemson University political science professor, says the visit is "part of their targeting vulnerable Democrats" as they try to pick up seats in Washington.
The White House "wouldn't be putting the time and resources in if they didn't think Ralph Norman was a potential winner," says Hamp Atkins, who oversees the 5th District for the state GOP.
It's Cheney's first visit to the area as vice president and his second to the state since 2004.
