Special Interest Groups Force Candidates to Address Issues

Campaigns and Elections, September 11, 2007

By John Boyanoski

Within seconds of former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson turning over his first South Carolina campaign speech to questions from the crowd, a voice hollered from the back.

"Can we call you FairTax Fred?"

It was a different twist on a fairly typical question on the 2008 presidential campaign trail in South Carolina. Special interest groups such as the Americans for Fair Taxation, DividedWeFail.org, ONE Vote and ED In '08, have been bombarding the candidates with questions at campaign stops. They wear bright colors. They pass out stickers. They hold up placards throughout speeches. And when it comes time for questions, they almost always get theirs answered.

Barbara Keaton of Taylors is two-for-two on her last campaign stops, having questions answered by former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney two weeks ago and Thompson this week. She is with DividedWeFail, which is sponsored by AARP, but strives for better health care and financial security for all Americans.

"We're looking for someone who will be honest with the country," Keaton said.

Scott Huffmon, a political science professor at Winthrop University, said there has been a definite spike in these kinds of political action groups in South Carolina and they have become an important part of the campaign trail.

Candidates know they represent a very real segment of the voting population, he said. That it makes it tough to ignore their questions.

"Candidates are being forced to address these issues," Huffmon said.

A lot of times it is the gimmick that catches the candidate's eye.

When a member of Business Leaders For Sensible Priorities got close to Romney in Greer last month, the Republican candidate looked at him once and said he knew exactly which group he was representing. That is because the man was handing out Oreo cookies, the group's hallmark. The group, which was founded by ice cream mogul Ben Cohen, stacks hubcap-sized Oreos to show how much of the federal budget is spent on the military.

One of the most vocal has been the Americans for Fair Taxation, which staged an 8,000 person rally in South Carolina during the May Republican Presidential debate in Columbia and usually has someone wearing a white T-shirt with the group's logo on it each time a GOP candidate has hit the state. They ask any candidate they can find if they support the FairTax.

Sean Matula, grassroots field coordinator for the group, said it is mostly local supporters who are hitting the events and there is very little participation of the national group's team. However, the group's luxury bus did make a visit this week to South Carolina for the Thompson rally. Volunteers milled around outside the bus before the event's start to get information and signs.

"It's about grass-roots pressure," he said.

Other groups are finding ways of standing out as well. DividedWeFail's members wear bright red T-shirts. ED in '08 erected a 20-foot high balloon sign at a Spartanburg Republican rally last month.

ONE Vote, which is chaired nationally by former Senate Majority Leaders Bill Frist and Tom Daschle, has also been making the rounds. Their field people have been at events held by U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Democratic New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in the last week as well.

Other states are seeing these groups, as well as some more interesting crowds. The Fair Tax bus spent almost three weeks in Iowa last month. And in New Hampshire, Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana have followed candidates' every step.

And for the record, Thompson told the people at the Greenville stop he supports revamping the tax structure, but won't endorse any plan at this time.

"The tax code has go to go," Thompson said.