by Anthony G. Martin
Columbia Conservative Examiner
September 29, 2009
U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson, R-SC, appeared in the upstate of South Carolina today in the town of Spartanburg at the Beacon Drive-In. The event was a fundraiser for the Congressman’s upcoming reelection campaign.
The Beacon, world famous for having sold more iced tea than any restaurant in the world, is a popular gathering-place for politicians to meet and talk to citizens in an informal setting. The restaurant was packed.
Wilson, of course, is the South Carolina representative in Congress who shouting during Barack Obama’s recent address on healthcare, ‘You lie!’ While the Congressman admits that he broke with House decorum and apologized to the President, his sentiments have resonated with millions of citizens around the country.
This has certainly been true in South Carolina.
Wilson reports that in his various townhall meetings across the state, attendance records have been broken for political gatherings. Thousands flocked to hear Wilson in Lexington, Columbia, Bufort, and several other cities.
And for the most part, the overwhelming majority of citizens were very supportive of Wilson, although the Congressman stated in a TV interview at the Beacon today that a few hecklers showed up at some of the events but that they were treated respectfully by the vast crowds of his supporters.
Perhaps the most interesting exchange during the meeting was when an attendee in the audience, during the question-and-answer session, stated for the benefit of Wilson and others seeking reelection that it is important for Republicans to remember that there are many more conservatives than there are members of the GOP.
And, of course, as recent polls have shown, there are many more conservatives than there are liberals or moderates.
The attendee stated that his intent was to remind Wilson and others that if there is to be a successful ‘big tent’ in the GOP, it must be from the right of center, not from the left of center. In this way, the GOP perhaps can pick up support from conservatives and Independents who have no Party affiliation, primarily due to the fact that the Republicans have seemed to forsake their core principles of Reagan-Goldwater-Buckley conservatism.
Wilson agreed that the GOP needs to return to its conservative roots wherein it had its most phenomenal success.
