Greenville, S.C. – Crowds clapped as they packed around Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani while the presidential candidates arrived for the Greenville County Republican convention Saturday.
Some in the crowd grumbled about the absence of Arizona Sen. John McCain.
There was little doubt about the popularity of former New York Mayor Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Romney, as they held court for about a half-hour each before addressing one of the state’s largest GOP groups. Not far away, working the crowd, were Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
Others worked the crowd, too, such as Brentleigh Crow, who was trying to get her photo taken with all the candidates. Crow, like some Republicans in attendance, was miffed that McCain was nowhere in sight.
“I was appalled that McCain thumbed his nose at Greenville,” Crow said.
McCain’s campaign staff said he had scheduling conflicts that kept him from South Carolina’s county conventions, events filled with some of the GOP’s most committed activists.
Still, some McCain supporters were on hand, hanging campaign signs and plastering stickers on lapels.
Candidates who took a tough line on immigration were crowd-pleasers.
Hunter got some of his loudest applause when he talked about slow progress on a border fence with Mexico. If the work’s not done when he is sworn in as president, Hunter promised: “I will finish the border fence in six months.”
