By Paul Gable
Filing closed Wednesday for this year’s June 14th Republican primaries. Normally the close of filing brings the beginning of ‘silly season’ in politics.
However, this year, the Russell Fry campaign to replace Tom Rice as the SC 7th Congressional District Congressman started ‘silly season’ early.
Fry waited until August 2021 to announce he was running for Congress, until he was virtually certain that establishment pols like Henry McMaster and Drew McKissick could get his campaign endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Fry also waited eight months to criticize Rice’s January 13, 2021 vote to impeach Trump. Now he can’t stop talking about Rice as a “Trump impeacher.” Fry is a little slow on the uptake.
Fry has used the term ‘committed conservative’ to describe his political voting stance. However, the American Conservative Union gives Fry a 58% overall voting record for his first five years in the SC House. Sounds more like a RINO voting record to me.
After the Trump endorsement last month, the Fry campaign ran its first political ad, a ridiculous cartoon style creation featuring paid actors to portray such characters as the Joker and the Devil.
Then, voters in the 7th Congressional District were treated to a Fry video announcing, “Damn, it sure is great to be a Gangster.”
Since filing for candidacy opened in the middle of March 2022, the Fry campaign has treated voters to two email messages. (see below)
The first email said that Fry had a 30-point poll lead over Rice thanks to the Trump endorsement.
Less than two weeks later, the Fry Campaign sent out one of its messages begging for campaign contributions and saying, “if we can’t keep up (in campaign funds vis a vis Rice) I won’t have the resources to maintain my very narrow lead in the polls.”
One week Fry is boasting about a 30-point lead over Rice, the next week it is “very narrow.” His campaign can’t even get its messaging straight.
All of which proves one thing – voters cannot believe one word that comes out of Fry’s mouth.
It appears Fry is running a Mickey Mouse campaign managed by Goofy, rather than a serious campaign for national political office.
Obviously, the Trump endorsement of Fry was not based on who was the best Republican candidate in the 7th Congressional District. Rather it was given based on which candidate could get the ear of Trump’s advisers.
With the Trump endorsement, Fry may pick up a few votes from Trump loyalist Kool Aid drinkers. However, most voters in the 7th Congressional District choose who to vote for based on what the candidates say about issues that are important to voters.
And, as we’ve seen recently, Trump endorsements can be given and Trump endorsements can be taken away. Relying solely on the Trump endorsement to win votes, which appears to be the Fry campaign strategy, is a recipe for disaster. The candidate must also stand for something and a professed ‘committed conservative’ who only rates a 58% conservative voting record doesn’t!
Other than its ridiculous and contradictory messaging, the Fry campaign has nothing to say.
Fry’s email messages below:
Both emails can’t be true! Undoubtedly neither email is true.
It is highly probable that Russell never led any poll conducted in this race.
Speak Up…