Graham Rationalizes “Small Group,” “Ron Paul Supporters”
The Times Examiner led with the story of the Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee’s censure of Senator Lindsey Graham early last Tuesday morning, just hours after the vote was taken on the campus of Greenville Technical College.
Other media outlets playing catch-up released their version of the story more than 24 hours later. Strangely, they did not go to members of the Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee to obtain the facts, but interviewed Republican Party officials and campaign staff in other parts of the state who had no facts but only speculation to offer.
The outspoken chairman of the Spartanburg County Executive Committee could not resist offering his opinion that Samuel Harms, his Greenville counterpart, was new in the job and recorded an illegal vote without a quorum.
Dan Hoover of The Greenville News, who was not present at the Executive Committee Meeting, quoted Sen. Graham, who was not at the meeting either, speculating that the 60 Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee members were “apparently a small group of people upset with different aspects of life.”
In the meantime, members of the Spartanburg and Anderson County Executive Committees and their counterparts in several other counties are planning to present similar resolutions at their next meeting.
Several critics of the censure vote irrationally attempted to link the vote to the primary campaign of presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, apparently thinking that association would somehow degrade or diminish the vote.
Lisa Rollins of the Russ and Lisa Talk Radio Show on WORD Radio AM 1330 read portions of The Times Examiner report on the air Tuesday morning prompting more than two hours of telephone calls to the station.
Mike Gallagher broke the story for his national audience using The Times Examiner report.
Syndicated Columnist Michelle Malkin, whose column is carried by The Times Examiner, picked up the story and commented on her website.
As a member of the US House, Lindsey Graham was very popular with conservative voters. It was only after Graham linked up with Sen. John McCain and Sen. Ted Kennedy to push a senate bill that many conservatives saw as “amnesty for illegal aliens,” that conservative Republicans became upset with Senator Graham. His characterization of critics before a Hispanic group only served to further offend South Carolina Republicans who are legitimately concerned about the impact floods of illegal migrants across the US – Mexican border will have on the social and fiscal structure of the republic.
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