and the Conservative Leadership Project about the Constitution, potential U.S. Supreme Court vacancies and law. Paul talked about a range of issues but also came to court the backing of South Carolina’s Scott.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who made his second visit to Winthrop, arrived at the Carolina Values Summit in February to talk about their pro-life, pro-family and pro-freedom stances.
The largest turnout for a Republican candidate belonged to New York real estate billionaire Donald Trump. More than 6,000 people, many of them in line for hours, descended upon the Winthrop Coliseum to see the man who was shaking up Republican politics. The BBC filmed part of a Trump documentary at Winthrop.
Since their visits, Bush, Huckabee, Paul, Fiorina, O’Malley and Carson have dropped out of the race.
WINTHROP POLL: RESULTS FOR BOTH PARTIES TELLING In mid-February as the spotlight turned to South Carolina, members of the regional, national and international media turned to Winthrop political science professors to help understand what was happening in the presidential selection process. Huffmon, John Holder, Adolphus Belk Jr. and Kedrowski conducted regular interviews with state, local, regional, national and international media. Huffmon and Belk also served on a panel for WFAE, the Charlotte National Public Radio station, when the show broadcasted a Feb. 16 episode of “Charlotte Talks” live on campus.
Huffmon told USA Today that the 2012 S.C. GOP Primary could be viewed as “a canary in the coal mine” because the winner then — Newt Gingrich — spouted off similar anti-establishment themes that Trump has used on the 2016 trail. “Now the entire nation of conservative voters is voicing their anger at the Republican establishment,” Huffmon said in USA Today.
Trump, who led GOP challengers in the December 2015 Winthrop Poll, did indeed win the S.C. GOP Primary with nearly 33 percent of the votes. While Huffmon said the South Carolina win would not automatically make Trump the
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nominee, the chances of others catching him get harder and harder with every win.
In the Democratic race, the November 2015 Winthrop Poll had Clinton, a former Secretary of State and First Lady, on top in the S.C. Democratic Primary, barely edging out Sanders who brought his message of income inequality to Winthrop three times. The poll accurately predicted the Democratic winner, as Clinton received nearly 74 percent of the votes and won the Feb. 27 S.C. Democratic Primary.
Winthrop took seriously its role as a public institution dedicated to serving the state of South Carolina, and to promoting the free exchange of ideas and informed citizenship. The university welcomed candidates, elected officials and guest speakers from all political and ideological perspectives to campus. These appearances did not constitute an endorsement of any party, candidate or ideological perspective. Throughout the seven months of candidate visits, more than 17,000 visited campus to participate in the political process and to possibly get a glimpse of the next President of the United States.
The 2016 presidential election has accentuated the deep divide among many Americans. It is clear that no matter who wins, the job of the 45th president to unite the country will be a challenge.
For more information on the Winthrop Poll, please visit
www.winthrop.edu/winthroppoll. Additional information on Winthrop’s political science department may be found at
www.winthrop.edu/politicalscience.
Click on the photo below to view a slideshow of all the presidential candidates who visited Winthrop campus..
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