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Head of SC GOP Says No SC Pols Will Get Traction in 2008 Until Presidential Candidates Finally Leave State

Also Says Lindsey Graham Will Eat Lunch of Any Challenger in ‘08 During Interview On ETV’s "The Big Picture on the Radio"

For Immediate Release
May 4, 2007

STREAM AN ARCHIVED COPY OF THE PROGRAM

Columbia, SC...During an interview on Friday with ETV news and public affair's Managing Editor and Host Andrew Gobeil, on "The Big Picture on the Radio," Katon Dawson, Chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, tackled a wide array of subjects, following Thursday’s first Republican presidential candidates’ debate:

Here’s what he told Gobeil:  

Dawson on major impact of presidential candidates’ campaigns on South Carolina’s politicians: “What this is going to do for SC is, it’s going to hold off a lot of races. We’ve got an ’08 Senate, ’08 House, a US Senate race, and nobody’s going to be able to get any traction, in any of the races, until the presidential candidates leave SC...When you take a look, nobody’s going to be able to campaign for anything in SC 'til somewhere in mid-to-late February for June primaries...‘cause you can’t as a local candidate try to come in and get any kind of media when you have these heavy-weight presidential candidates sitting in SC on a daily basis.”

Dawson on security issues as the candidates campaign: “People want to get close to a candidate, it is not as sexy as race car drivers, but it’s close.”

Dawson on the financial boon Columbia will experience from the upcoming Republican presidential candidates’ debate:

“I think just logistically, probably $8-$9 million to Columbia right now. Just the airport traffic is almost going to double...The winner of all this is the City of Columbia, the state of South Carolina, The State newspaper, the television stations. The parties are the ones that do the work, and the recipients are the vendors, and that’s OK.”

Dawson’s take on last night’s debate starring 10 candidates: “It’s interesting...when you see a debate of that nature (with so many candidates)...I wonder how many (viewers) switched over to ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ or ‘Deal or No Deal,’ or ‘American Idol...’”

Dawson at odds with many political pundits who say it’s too soon for such ramped-up campaigning: “...I disagreed with the morning pundits...(and I) read probably 20-something different papers as far as what the highlights of the debate were...This process isn’t early, it’s over this time next year. Mark Sanford ran for governor for two years. We have people who run for state senate seats for over a year...”

Dawson on potential Republican challengers to Lindsey Graham in ‘08: “If somebody wants to take on Lindsey Graham, they’d better pack two lunches, ‘cause he’s going to eat that first one when they show up.”

The Big Picture on the Radio can be heard Fridays at 9 a.m. on ETV Radio's four news formats: 88.1-WRJA Sumter, 89.1-WLJK Aiken, 89.9- WJWJ Beaufort, and 90.1-WHMC Conway. The program can also be streamed from www.myetv.org.

The Big Picture can be seen on ETV Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., with encore presentations on Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1 p.m.

For more information, contact Catherine Christman at 803-737-3259 or christman@scetv.org.