Charlie James talks SC Senate primary strategy, candidate rules, and golf tips

What this episode covers

Charlie James: All right, let's go to the phones and talk to Wayne in Greenwood. How you doing, Wayne? Wayne (Caller): Oh... tolerable, as always! (Laughs) Charlie James: (Laughs) All right, well, what's going on, man? Wayne (Caller): You shouldn't ask me that, because I don't feel good a lot of times. Okay. Anyway, I got my first campaign brochure in the mail Wednesday... Charlie James: Yeah? Wayne (Caller): ...from Darlene Graham—not Darlene Graham Nardone, but Darlene Nardone. Charlie James: Right. Wayne (Caller): And from the standpoint of fiscal responsibility, Mark Sanford would be the best choice—we know that—but he's got that blatant lie, just like Mark Lynch has a blatant lie that he ran repeatedly on your radio station hanging over their heads. So I, as I have said earlier to you, will be voting for Ralph Norman, probably next week. And hopefully, when the runoff comes around, Darlene Graham will only increase her percentage a very few points over the first election, because all of her opponents will endorse the other one in the race, and they'll go vote for the other opponent, hopefully Ralph Norman. Charlie James: Second choice, yeah. Wayne (Caller): There you go. Charlie James: Hopefully that'll happen! We'll see, we'll see. Because, and I appreciate it, Wayne... See, there's just... tell me if any of this stuff is sitting right with you. I mean, we... you know, what do they call it? The "sixth sense." If something doesn't seem right, there's a good chance that it's not right. So this woman, from what we heard—and Tom, I'll get to you in just a second—from what we heard, she was supposed to be a placeholder. And the reason that not only the GOP, but the South Carolina GOP wanted somebody in this, you know, to be appointed to Lindsey Graham's seat that wasn't going to run, was so that we could have a clean election or a clean primary. No incumbents! But then Darlene Graham goes and she has a meeting with President Trump. Now, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that meeting and find out exactly what was said, but then he comes out and endorses her! Next thing you know, Tim Scott's not only endorsing her, he's also endorsing... you know, trying to get Trey Gowdy to run. Who knows where this guy's head is? So then she announces that she's running. She's got the machine, she's got all of Lindsey's cash, she's got all the support, she's got the PAC out there that's sending out those mailers right now behind her. They're the ones paying for all the advertisements. It just... something does not pass the smell test right now. Let's go to Tom in Union County. How you doing, Tom? Tom (Caller): (Inaudible) Charlie James: Tom, are you there? Tom (Caller): Yes, I'm here! Charlie James: Oh, okay! All right, welcome, Tom. How are you? Tom (Caller): Yeah, thanks for taking my call. Hey, Charlie, Russell Fry is running for two offices at the same time: he's running for Congress and for Senate. Ralph Norman could have done that, but on principle, he's not. He's working hard in D.C. at his current job, and he's ready to leave Congress to run for Senate. Charlie James: Well, he was leaving Congress anyway. He—he left Congress when he ran for Governor... or announced he wasn't running for reelection when he ran for Governor. Russell Fry—and that's another thing, I appreciate it, Tom—that's another thing that's got me wondering. I mean, what—what are you doing? What are you doing? So Russell Fry is running for the Senate, and he's running for the Seventh Congressional District. If he wins the Senate, he's going to have to give up his seat in the Seventh. That means those folks in the Seventh, guess what? You've got a special election coming up! Ah! Is this thing ever going to end? That's what I want to know. So anyway, we'll find out what happens. Don't forget: early voting starts on Wednesday—Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of next week. "Charlie, if Ms. Nardone is our nominee, we will lo ...

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