Dr. Annie Andrews used a town hall in Union on Tuesday to make a direct case to voters one day before President Donald Trump was set to visit the Upstate for interim Sen. Darline Graham. She cast the race as close enough to turn on turnout and message, and said she came to Union to hear from voters rather than wait for party leaders to define the fight.
Andrews said she was there because she is willing to show up and talk to everyone, adding that she wants to find solutions to the problems people are dealing with now. Her pitch was blunt: she said South Carolina families are paying more for groceries, gas, diesel and health care, and that she wants to focus on lowering costs, fixing the health care system and rooting out corruption.
The campaign stop came as Andrews sharpened her argument that the race is still very much in play. She said national Republicans were swooping in to help rescue Graham’s campaign because they were seeing the same polls she was seeing, and she described the contest as neck and neck. Andrews said she and her campaign are in a position to win, and that a victory would belong to South Carolina because the Senate seat belongs to the people of South Carolina.
She also tried to define herself against the political class she is challenging. Andrews said she does not want to be a career politician and wants to bring back an era of bipartisanship. She described herself as a pragmatic problem solver, said she is a pediatrician and mom before she is anything else, and said no one recruited her into politics. Instead, she said, the first 15 years she spent working at the Children’s Hospital down in Charleston showed her the problems face to face.
That personal framing carried into her most pointed criticism of Graham. Andrews said her opponent needs the highest level of federal government politicians to speak for her, and she argued that Graham has leaned on Trump and other top officials to carry the campaign message. At the same time, Andrews said she is willing to work with anyone, including the president, to solve South Carolina’s problems, a line that lets her present herself as open to dealmaking while pressing Graham for outside help.
The back-and-forth lands at a moment when the campaign is moving quickly toward Trump’s rally for Graham. Andrews welcomed the president to South Carolina in a Wednesday statement, but urged him to hear directly from families, farmers and workers she says are paying more every month for food, fuel and health care. She also said the Russia sanctions bill associated with Lindsey Graham has been used as a centerpiece of Darline Graham’s political case, while arguing that South Carolina should stand with its democratic allies in Ukraine.
Trump was scheduled to headline a midterm rally Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Clemson University’s T. Ed Garrison Arena in Pendleton, with the event set to support Graham and other Republicans on the ballot ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. Andrews’ bet is that the rally will not settle the race, only underline how close it is. Her message in Union was that if Graham needs Trump to carry the argument, the contest is still within reach.
