Mark Lynch officially enters the special primary to succeed Lindsey Graham

What this episode covers

Charlie James: All right, let's go to the phones and talk to State Senator Lee Bright, who joins us right now. Lee, it was a crazy, crazy weekend starting yesterday, wasn't it? Lee Bright: I tell you, that that was—I I was kind of like a lot of other people, it was surreal. You—I I woke up and had my ringer off, and and noticed I had about eight or ten texts and phone calls, and I started thinking, "Do my friends ever sleep?" I mean, these people were sending me messages at 3:00 in the morning, but then, you know, I I checked it, too, and sure enough, that that was just shocking. I I felt like Lindsey—I—the first time I met Lindsey was in 2002, and and he was talking about, you know, the U.S. Senate and talking about how, you know, these seats only come open every 40 years, and you know, and then he gets elected to the Senate. And I really thought after this last race that he would probably be there another 12, 18 years, and I was just totally shocked. I mean, because you know, these people are living longer these days. Course, I thought he was younger. I didn't realize he was 71. I thought he was, you know, a few years younger than that, but but still, what a shock. Charlie James: It really is a shock, and that's left us in South Carolina with a—with a bit of a, um, a rush offense to get in place, right? Lee Bright: Well, I I tell you, I I was listening earlier, and I wanted to—when I text you about talking about the budget, which I'd love to talk about—about the state budget, of course, I know people—the, uh, oxygen is kind of people aren't thinking about that right now. But I will say this, this needs to be a contest. This doesn't need to be a coordination. With all due respect to the President of the United States, this is one of the most powerful positions in Western civilization, and and I think there ought to be a contest. I don't think there needs to be a coordination. Charlie James: So, you would rather that, um, President Trump just stay out of it? Lee Bright: I—you know, you know what? He—he weighed—and it's his right, he can do what he wants to do, but he weighed into the governor's race, and I like Pamela Evette as a person, but the people chose, they they decided they didn't want Pamela Evette. I just think that the—the people in South Carolina need to decide who their representatives are. And to handicap a race in this short of a time and to say that's a good thing, I just disagree. I—like I said, he's the president, he's—he can do what he wants to do, that's his prerogative. But I would much rather see a robust—I know it's only a few weeks. Charlie James: Yeah. Lee Bright: But let's—hopefully we can have a debate. I just—this—this thing of a coordination being a good thing, and that's kind of what I heard parodied, you know, from our state party chairman and from Nate, you know, I understand their logic behind it, but I think that just smacks, and I don't think that's what people want. They want a contest. And even though we just went through this grueling thing with the governor's race, I, for one, still want to see people and I want to have them have those discussions. I don't want somebody picked, you know, just—just basically who the president wants. I think it ought to be—this is a U.S. Senate seat. Charlie James: Do you think uh, we should have debates? Do you think there's enough time? Lee Bright: I think there's enough time. They can put it together. I mean, it—you know, you've got—and obviously, at least for the runoff, there should be a debate. But, you know, you're talking about—you've got a few weeks here. I mean, it—it's a fast cycle, I understand that. But I think people would want—even if it's—I know, you know, you—all you need is a microphone and a stage. And I mean, these—if you're running for U.S. Senate, you better know your issues, so. Charlie James: Yeah, you're exactly right. All right, Lee, we appreciate it. Thank you very much. I want to know, uh—oh, woe, Lee, I'm sorry. Gi ...

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