Trump, Biden shouldn’t overlook South Carolina as the November election draws near

When Democratic Party presidential nominee Joe Biden selects his running mate in the coming days — and we’re betting he will choose either U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris or former national security adviser Susan Rice — the Nov. 3 election battle between the former vice president and President Donald Trump will finally begin in earnest.

But it’s already not too early to demand that both candidates show South Carolina some attention throughout the campaign’s final stretch.

Our state deserves it, and Biden and Trump need to acknowledge as much as Election Day draws near.

Not a slam dunk

Is Trump, the Republican incumbent, the current front-runner to win our traditionally red state in November — just as he did against Hillary Clinton in 2016?

Yes.

But it’s hardly a slam dunk right now: in one series of recent polls, the average gap between Trump and Biden was a mere 4 percentage points among South Carolinian voters.

So between now and Election Day it would behoove Trump to make his way to South Carolina more than once — and to directly appeal to South Carolinians to give him another four years in the White House.

And the Trump campaign would be smart as well to have Vice President Mike Pence beat a periodic path to our state, too — Pence’s recent appearance in South Carolina should not be the last time that the VP is seen in SC.

Biden must prove it

When Biden sat down for a candidate interview earlier this year with The State Editorial Board before the SC Democratic Party presidential primary — he was among nine Democrat candidates interviewed by the Editorial Board leading up to the February vote — the contender was in high-swagger mode regarding his electability in South Carolina.

Indeed Biden openly boasted that he could turn South Carolina into a competitive electoral state for Democrats, as well as help down-ballot Democratic candidates like U.S. Rep. Joe Cunningham and U.S. Senate challenger Jaime Harrison.

Well, the time has arrived for Biden to back up all the chest-thumping talk.

We want to actually see the Democratic nominee inside South Carolina during the 90 days between now and the election — and not just through slick ads on TV screens throughout our state.

We want to see Biden make the face-to-face case to South Carolinians — with everyone appropriately masked, of course — regarding why they should turn away from Trump and move toward a Biden presidency.

And we want to see Biden’s running mate — whether it’s Harris, Rice, Karen Bass or someone else — do her part to validate Biden’s early boasts about South Carolina being an “up for grabs” state.

Engaged voters, real importance

Despite our ongoing battle with the COVID-19 pandemic, our state still has plenty of engaged voters and national importance — and Biden and Trump must show proper respect for that during the remaining campaign

If either man hopes to have the opportunity to lead the United States over the next four years, treating South Carolina as just a flyover state over the next three months won’t cut it.

This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Trump, Biden shouldn’t overlook South Carolina as the November election draws near."