FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) – In a year of intense polarization and partisanship – and in a state known for its rough-and-tumble politics – South Carolina’s top party leaders are actively working to cut through the bull.
It doesn’t mean dedication for their White House candidates is any less fervent. But the state’s Republican and Democratic chairmen are taking an amiable approach to helping South Carolina voters figure out how they feel about the issues, not just impress their partisan viewpoints upon them. Their public discussions are styled in a plainspoken and rhetorically minimalist way.
On a recent Thursday night, GOP Chairman Matt Moore and his Democratic counterpart, Jaime Harrison, took part in a voter education symposium in Florence, a small city in South Carolina’s northeastern Pee Dee region.
When the evening’s moderator asked how many times they’d shared a stage, Moore responded, “A thousand times.”
Moore, his arm around Harrison’s shoulders, added: “It’s the Matt and Jaime traveling road show.”