Senator Tim Scott, Republican of South Carolina, arrived in New Hampshire on Friday for the beginning of a six-day, three-state blitz — essentially the most in depth marketing campaign swing since saying his run for the White House.
But any momentum Mr. Scott had hoped to carry was as lacking as he was throughout lengthy stretches of the primary Republican main debate on Wednesday.
During the two-hour debate in Milwaukee, Mr. Scott spoke for less than 8 minutes 15 seconds, in keeping with The New York Times’s time tracker — a full 4 minutes lower than the main talker, former Vice President Mike Pence. Mr. Scott flashed moments of humor however usually pale solely into the background. And he wasn’t focused by his rivals, nor did he goal them.
In the race to be the main Republican various to former President Donald J. Trump, Mr. Scott had entered Wednesday’s debate seemingly primed for the primary actual second of consequence for his marketing campaign. He and his allies had flooded the airwaves in Iowa with essentially the most promoting of any Republican. He had inched upward within the polls. The candidate he was most carefully chasing, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, had slipped. And main donors had been giving him recent consideration.
But voters on Friday at two New Hampshire meet-and-greets within the capital metropolis of Concord and the city of Hooksett mentioned he had not but set himself other than the pack, whilst they praised the senator’s optimistic message and likability. Several Republicans and independents open to supporting him expressed disappointment that Mr. Scott was not even seen sufficient to render a judgment.
“He was one that I wanted to hear more from,” mentioned Allyson Vaschon, 57, who was at a diner in Concord the place Mr. Scott shook palms and met voters on Friday afternoon. “I did like some of his answers but they were brief, and again, time just wasn’t allotted.”
Ms. Vaschon blamed the format greater than Mr. Scott, who has defended his debate efficiency by saying it was a “food fight” somewhat than a substantive dialog. He informed reporters in Hooksett on Friday that his closing assertion on the debate, which touched on his rise from poverty to the presidential marketing campaign, was the simplest message of the evening.
The back-and-forth amongst his opponents on the stage “does not necessarily help anyone except for the media and Joe Biden,” Mr. Scott mentioned.
Early indicators have pointed to lagging enthusiasm for his debate efficiency.
A Washington Post/FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos survey of Republicans after the controversy confirmed that solely 4 % believed Mr. Scott had received, inserting him towards the again of the pack. And of the eight candidates onstage, together with Mr. Trump, Mr. Scott’s identify was tied for final for the share of Google searches within the week main as much as and after the controversy, in keeping with the corporate’s search development knowledge. The day after the controversy, he garnered solely 3 % of the candidate searches, which could be a metric of voter curiosity. Atop the search record on Thursday morning was Vivek Ramaswamy, the previous biotechnology government and political newcomer who was the controversy’s dominant character.
Eric Levine, a New York lawyer and Republican donor who attended the controversy as a visitor of Mr. Scott’s marketing campaign, mentioned he believed the senator had received by staying above the fray. But he acknowledged that “perhaps he could have been a little more aggressive,” and mentioned that he had heard the identical from different donors.
“I guess he made a little bit of a mistake in believing that rules matter,” Mr. Levine mentioned of Mr. Scott’s resolution to usually wait till referred to as upon somewhat than insert himself into the fracas. “Very few questions were actually asked of Tim Scott. He was put in a hole where he would have to insinuate himself.”
Gail Gitcho, a Republican strategist who has labored on previous presidential campaigns and is unaligned within the 2024 race, mentioned Mr. Scott’s displaying amounted to a missed alternative for a candidate whose tremendous PAC has already reserved $40 million in promoting, essentially the most of anybody within the main.
“Tim Scott is built for this race,” Ms. Gitcho mentioned. “He has the resources to go the distance. He has a life story unlike anybody else. But he didn’t break through.”
As Mr. DeSantis has dipped, the seek for different potential Trump options has intensified. In the realm the place Republican National Committee members had been assembly in Milwaukee, one individual named a wi-fi sizzling spot “Glenn Youngkin Needs to Run,” a reference to the Republican governor of Virginia.
Mr. Scott had ready for the controversy, his first ever on the nationwide stage, by bringing on certainly one of his get together’s extra famous debate coaches, Mari Will, as a senior adviser. Yet together with his restricted time, Mr. Scott didn’t discover the chance to dive totally into the non-public historical past that has undergirded his candidacy, particularly how his household went “from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” as he put it in his 2020 conference speech.
Mr. Scott was the only Black candidate on the stage in a celebration the place a Black Republican presidential contender has surged, at the least briefly, to the highest of the polls within the final two open presidential primaries. In 2012, it was the pizza magnate Herman Cain. In 2016, it was the mind surgeon Ben Carson.
Both rapidly pale. But Mr. Scott has a much more formidable political résumé.
Ahead of the controversy, Mr. Scott’s allies and aides had mentioned his message would stay optimistic whereas being direct sufficient to separate himself from the crowded main discipline. Days earlier than, Mr. Scott had traded a lot of his upbeat stump speech for a extra forceful, policy-focused handle at a conservative gathering in Georgia.
For months, Mr. Scott, who favors contrasting alliterations like “victory and victimhood” and “grievance and greatness,” has tried to beat again questions on his toughness. When requested about his messaging technique at a donor retreat this spring, Mr. Scott assured supporters that he would have the ability to push again if challenged.
Toward the top of Wednesday’s debate, moderators requested Mr. Scott a query — a couple of president’s position in restoring spiritual religion within the nation — that appeared aligned together with his marketing campaign message. Yet Mr. Scott’s response was surprisingly temporary. The nation, he mentioned, “was founded on the Judeo-Christian values,” after which he quoted Scripture.
“Our responsibility should be to model the behavior we want others to follow,” he mentioned. He then rapidly added some extent about schooling reform, vowing to “break the backs of the teachers’ unions.”
His reply, lasting roughly 35 seconds, fell wanting the time allotment for candidates’ solutions — a distinction with a lot of his opponents, who at one level needed to be reminded that the closing bell signified their must cease speaking.
At the Concord diner on Friday, David Coffey, 79, an impartial voter and a former schoolteacher, challenged Mr. Scott about his reluctance to immediately criticize Mr. Trump after the senator had launched himself. That prompted Mr. Scott to hitch him at his desk.
“You’re avoiding standing up for his past,” Mr. Coffey informed Mr. Scott as a waitress set down plates of bacon, eggs and pancakes. “You don’t want to lose all his votes — I get you. But when you go to Russia, when you go to China, how are you going to stand up and say, ‘Hey, I can’t do that’?”
“It’s very easy,” Mr. Scott responded, saying it could require the president to “stand toe-to-toe” with adversaries.
“You’re not standing toe-to-toe with somebody who you don’t accept as president,” Mr. Coffey replied.
“Do you want to have a conversation, or do you want to have a dialogue?” Mr. Scott requested Mr. Coffey. “If you want to have a dialogue, I’d love to have it.”
Mr. Scott described moments when he had challenged Mr. Trump throughout his presidency, and defined his perception that the Department of Justice was “broken.” After Mr. Scott left the desk, Mr. Coffey informed reporters that he was leaning towards supporting former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey within the Republican main — somebody whose fireplace in opposition to Mr. Trump he admired.
“Scott is a politician — not that Christie isn’t,” Mr. Coffey mentioned, including of Mr. Scott: “He avoided what I wanted to hear him say. But he’s got a nice presence to him.”
Source: www.nytimes.com