Fresh from unveiling his new Empower Parents Plan, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) is back on the presidential campaign trail this week in the kickoff caucus state.
The South Carolina Republican plans multiple stops in Iowa following what many pundits saw as an unmemorable performance in last week’s first Republican presidential primary debate.
Scott begins his two-day, five-city trip with a stop Wednesday morning at the Guiding Star Crisis Pregnancy Center in Sioux Center. He’ll be joined by U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra (R-IA-04).
The candidate then travels to Le Mars for a noon town hall alongside Feenstra. At 1:30 p.m., Scott will tour the Siouxland Energy Ethanol Plant in Sioux Center.
On Thursday, Scott will host town halls — the first in Oskaloosa at 12:30 p.m. and the second in Ottumwa at 6:30 p.m.
“I’m excited to be back in the Hawkeye State to meet with caucus-goers and share why we need a president who will stand with parents to protect our kids, end the indocrination, and defend children online,” he said in a statement.
While Scott hasn’t picked up much momentum in the national polls, he has fared quite well in Iowa. He’s running in third place, polling at 10.2 percent, according to RealClearPolitics’ average of Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus Polls. Scott trails only Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (17.2 percent) and former President Donald Trump (43.2 percent) in Iowa— and every Republican presidential candidate everywhere trails Trump.
But Scott failed to break through the din of combatants at last week’s debate in Milwaukee. Going in, the popular senator said he wouldn’t play the political attack game. He was true to his word. But pundits criticized Scott for “fading into the background.”
“During the two-hour Republican primary debate, Senator Tim Scott spoke for only 8 minutes 15 seconds, according to The New York Times’s time tracker. Scott flashed moments of humor but often faded entirely into the background,” the New York Times reported.
During the two-hour Republican primary debate, Senator Tim Scott spoke for only 8 minutes 15 seconds, according to The New York Times’s time tracker. Scott flashed moments of humor but often faded entirely into the background. https://t.co/4wygcj8Aue
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 26, 2023
The senator pushed back on Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy on Fox News, noting his handling of a debate question on abortion. He said “the loudest voices in the debate were the quietest voices on the issue of life.” Scott supports a federal 15-week limit on abortion.
“…[S]houting and screaming about nothing, and then being quiet about something, does not reflect the kind of leadership that will get the job done,” he said of some of his fellow candidates.
Scott is back on the road in first primary states, rolling out new policy plans and unloading another significant ad campaign. The Palmetto State senator was back home following the debate, stumping in Greenville, South Carolina, earlier this week before appearing at U.S. Representative Jeff Duncan’s (R-SC-03) annual barbecue on Monday. DeSantis was the featured guest at Duncan’s fundraiser but was forced to cancel his trip to deal with a tropical storm and the fallout of a reportedly race-based fatal shooting.
He’s laying out his Empower Parents Plan, key policy points to “defend America’s children, empower parents, and protect kids online.” Included in the proposal is what Scott describes as an emphasis on a “Family First Culture.” The plan, according to the campaign, seeks to defend “every parent’s right to know what their child is hearing and reading in school,” and “empower every family with the right to opt out of propaganda that attacks their values and religious liberty.” It also aims to “break the back of the teachers’ unions and enact nationwide school choice.”
He’s come to the right place, where Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and her fellow Republicans in the Legislature this year passed and signed a sweeping school choice bill and parental rights measures.
“Iowa is leading the nation when it comes to empowering parents and taking on the Teachers’ Unions,” Scott said.
The Republican and his backers are certainly leaders in ad spending in the early primary states.
As the Financial Times reported this week, Scott and groups backing his bid for the White House have spent nearly $50 million on campaign ads this election cycle.
A majority of the ads — more than $36 million worth — will air after Labor Day, according to the data from AdImpact, “as Scott blankets TV screens in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” the publication reported.
“Tim Scott is going to be the Republican nominee because his love of America, conservative vision and life story resonate with voters,” Rob Collins, co-chair of the pro-Scott super PAC Trust in the Mission, told The Financial Times.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Tim Scott” by Tim Scott. Background Photo “Tim Scott Event” by Tim Scott.
He has no chance so is this supposed to be a veep run or out of vanity so he can go on talk shows as an “also ran”? Far too often, the only thing he runs with are liberal talking points to criticize republicans.