THERE’S A GOOD CHANCE ONE OF THESE MEN WILL BE YOUR NEXT GOVERNOR

In a rare moment of political unity, all three rumored Republican 2010 gubernatorial candidates gathered in the same place Monday night for the Spartanburg County Republican Party’s Bronze Elephant Banquet.

Attorney General Henry McMaster, Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer and Congressman Gresham Barrett all made speeches at the $60 per person event in support of presidential candidate John McCain, but did not address reports that they will run for the state’s highest office in two years.

Even though the trio would not outright acknowledge it, Monday night was a practice run for 2010 – a tryout.

They did their part to rally the troops: Barrett talked about how a strong margin of victory in Spartanburg would help Republicans from Pickens County all the way to the coast; McMaster blasted the national media for having what he believes is a liberal bias against the McCain-Palin ticket; Bauer quoted Republican icon Barry Goldwater and said that history will remember President Bush as a man who held true to his convictions.

But simply by being at the Cleveland Park pavilion – the last Spartanburg venue McCain appeared at before winning the South Carolina Republican presidential primary in January – they did more.

“The folks that have at least indicated they have some interest to run for governor certainly wanted to show tonight that they had leadership qualities, and that’s what I saw: Each of them very clearly displayed their leadership qualities,” local party Chairman Rick Beltram said. [Spartanburg Herald Journal]

Given that Democrats have about a 5 percent chance of electing a governor and almost every other credible Republican is out of the race, it’s quite likely one of those three will be South Carolina’s next governor. So enjoy photos like that for the next few months, because by the start of next year through the June 2010 primary, it’s highly unlikely there will be any more.