Day 5: The SCRP, Lindsey Green, Carol Fowler, and Vivek Ramaswamy (02/21/2024)

We spent the morning visiting with the South Carolina Republican Party (SCRP) headquarters and met with Hope Walker Rossi, their Executive Director. We learned a bit about their delegate selection process and how their party approaches campaign strategy in an already largely red state. They have been very busy preparing for the upcoming primary so we were very appreciative that they took some time out of their days to speak with us. It was interesting to see how many similarities there were in the functions and the approaches the parties took to campaigns and politics, btu also noting some vast differences in party structure. 

We stopped for lunch and then headed off back to the SCDP headquarters to meet with Lindsey Green who was the First in the Nation Primary GOTV (Get Out The Vote) Director for South Carolina. She had some much to say on how they managed this brand new program this year and what it was like directing a primary GOTV effort in a state that was, for the very first time, going first in the Democratic primary. Needless to say it was a huge undertaking. Hearing how she approached it and the huge success they had was amazing.

After that we met with Carol Fowler, a long time Democratic National Committee member (and who's late husband the headquarters is named after, Don Fowler). She was the first female SCDP Chair. She spoke about the history of the Democratic party and also her experience as a woman entering politics and how that has shaped her experience. It was very inspiring to see someone who has dedicated their life to serving in the political community. 

That evening we decided last minute to attend an event at a local brewery where Vivek Ramaswamy would be live recording a podcast. It was an interesting atmosphere, unlike anything I have ever been to. The room wasn't large and there were maybe 50 people total but the vast majority were major fans of his. He discussed is presidential race and what he thinks the future of this race may look like in the coming months. Following the taping we had dinner at the brewery and spent some time decompressing after a long day before heading back to the hotel for the evening.