S.C. Voters Still Fume At NLRB Vs. Boeing
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Republicans don't appear to mind if a private company shuts down a business in the Palmetto State. What gets their dander up is when the government throws its weight around.
That may explain why the attacks on former Gov. Mitt Romney's Bain Capital days have done only minimal damage to the front-runner leading up to Saturday's primary.
The issue that has fired up Republicans and many others in the state was the National Labor Relations Board's objection to Boeing's (NYSE:BA - News) new plant in right-to-work state South Carolina.
A union in Washington state said the aerospace giant's facility was retaliation for past strikes, even though Boeing wasn't cutting any jobs in its manufacturing base. Still, the NLRB brought a claim against Boeing, raising fears that the plant could be closed and that any future business moving or expanding to a right-to-work state might face litigation.
Jet-Fueled Anger
Boeing and the union settled late last year and the NLRB dropped its claim. But feelings are still raw in the state.
"It's made anyone who is even an independent voter more conservative minded because we are a right-to-work state. It's galvanized the distrust for Obama," said Jeffrey Betch, vice chairman of the Fairfield County GOP.
The issue has even affected some past supporters of President Obama.
"It was a win-win for everybody," said Norman Harrison, an African-American who came out to see Newt Gingrich at the Christ Central Community Center in Winnsboro. "We'd get jobs and (Boeing) would get more money off of what we're doing for them, so why was that a problem?
Harrison said that he voted for Obama in 2008 but was considering someone different this time.
"I can't wait once a month for food stamps; I need a paycheck at least twice a month. ... I want to be able to go to my community and say Gingrich has a plan for that," said Harrison.
Romney's time at Bain Capital has come under attack by Gingrich and Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Georgetown Steel, a steel mill in Myrtle Beach, went bankrupt under the private equity firm, putting 450 people out of work. It was re-formed in 2005 under Mittal Steel (NYSE:MT - News) and now employs 300.
But the attacks don't seem to be having an impact among state GOP voters. They are more worried about the government deciding which businesses succeed or fail.
"There are going to be winners and losers," said Katherine Ellstrom of Lexington when asked about Bain. "What I have a hard time with is government choosing winners and losers.
"I think voters get how venture capital firms work. They go in and sometimes a company is saved and sometimes it's not," said Shell Suber, chairman of the Richland County GOP in the 1990s. "The tactic Gingrich and other are taking smacks of desperation.
But John Butcher of Irmo is not so sure.
"The mistake Romney made is that a few years back he should have explained what he did and how it worked so that there would be plenty of time for people to understand and especially for people who know nothing about it and only listen to the snippets you hear on the news.
Butcher claims that "Gingrich has put Romney back on his heels a bit. He's not really sure how to respond.
Romney leads in all South Carolina polls, most by double digits. But his campaign seems concerned that Gingrich is gaining ground, especially after the former House Speaker's strong performance in Monday's presidential debate.
On Wednesday, team Romney brought in Jim Talent and Susan Molinari, two former GOP lawmakers that served during Gingrich's reign.
"I can only describe his style as leadership by chaos," Molinari told a conference call with reporters.
Talent also took a shot at his former boss on the call. He later appeared in a Web ad in which he said Gingrich would make "outrageous comments that would blindside us and undermine our conservative agenda."
