At Least They Beat David Duke
Highly controversial but often forgotten presidential candidate David Duke won 7.1 percent of the vote in the 1992 South Carolina Republican primary in third place behind George H.W. Bush (66.9 percent) and Pat Buchanan (25.7 percent). That nearly equaled the support received in 2016 by three candidates, with only a fraction of their publicity and finances: Jeb Bush (7.8 percent), John Kasich (7.6 percent), and Ben Carson (7.2 percent). South Carolina was one of Duke’s best primary showings that cycle, behind Mississippi (10.6 percent) and his home state of Louisiana (8.9 percent) where he was the GOP gubernatorial nominee in 1991.
1. A seemingly really forgotten fact (particularly by the news media, such as CNN): George Herbert Walker “41” Bush LOST the Palmetto State R Primary Election of 1980, w/ about 15% – a respectable third to party converts R W Reagan and J Connally, and, yes, more than twice the vote share of that fringe 1988 D presidential aspirant…
2. If only “Jeb!” had won the 1994 gubernatorial election, while, half a continent away, “Dubya” had lost his bid that same cycle…