I love South Carolina. My wife and I try to vacation in Charleston every year. We love the city, we love the cuisine, and we love the people. We love everything about the Lowcountry. There is much to like about the politics in South Carolina too.
The people of Charleston and all of South Carolina are proud of their heritage. They have much of which to be proud. South Carolinians were signers of the Declaration of Independence and great patriots of the American Revolution. Then in 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from Union. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor which can be seen from downtown Charleston on a clear day. Once again South Carolina has witnessed the firing of the first shots of another civil war, the war for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.
In this the third state of the 2012 primary cycle, the voters of South Carolina stepped up and brought a halt to the Mitt Romney express. South Carolina seceded if you will from the idea that Mitt Romney is the nominee of the Republican Party and nothing can be done to stop him. It needed to be done, it had to be done, and the people of South Carolina showed the country how to do it. If Romney had swept through South Carolina on his way to Florida the campaign may very well have been over.
The citizens of South Carolina are reliably conservative in national elections. One can only dream of what a different nation this would be if the most populous state in the nation were as reliably red as South Carolina. Voters across the Palmetto State channeled this conservatism into Newt Gingrich and handed a stunning defeat to Mitt Romney on January 21, 2012.
Now as the campaign heads to Florida, Sunshine State voters get to express their opinion. I am hoping that they will keep the primary debate going. This would probably best be served by a close one two finish by Gingrich and Romney. However, a surprise second by Rick Santorum would really put a charge into the race. Conservatism deserves the continued discussion that it will receive as the primary schedule progresses. This country and the Republican Party both face important choices this year. The voters of South Carolina have given some other states the chance to matter in this election. For that, we should all be thankful.