SUPPORT GROWING FOR REPUBLICAN PARTY IN SC

There is new evidence to suggest that, as much of America is trending blue, the Republican Party is actually gaining a stronger hold in the Palmetto State.

An internal statewide poll of South Carolina voters conducted by the State Republican Party showed that, not only is the state still a strong Republican state, but that support is growing.

The results of the poll were released Thursday by SCGOP Chairman Karen Floyd on the party’s website.

“As you know, some observers have raised the concern that the recent controversy surrounding Gov. Mark Sanford may have damaged the image of the Republican Party and our candidates,” Floyd wrote. “I am very pleased to report those concerns are completely unfounded.”

Floyd said the poll of of 1,000 likely South Carolina voters put support for the Republican Party at 55 percent. Only 35 percent of those asked said the Democratic Party best reflected their views and values.

That data disproved the hypothesis that Sanford’s extramarital affair and ethics investigation could cost the GOP it’s overwhelming majority of state elected offices.

“We also learned that Barack Obama’s job approval rating in South Carolina is only 36 percent, which is a full 10 percent lower than the national average,” wrote Floyd. “And when our State’s voters were asked whether they favored or opposed Obama’s plan for universal health care, 61 percent said they were opposed. Only 30 percent were in favor of the Democrats’ national health care reform schemes.”

A full 60 percent of respondents also identified themselves as conservatives and only 23 percent said they were liberal.

But it is now the SCGOP’s job to take those numbers and move the ball forward in the 2010 elections.