Will he or won't he? Republican Sen. Tim Scott weighs a historic White House bid
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Loading... - Olivia Taylor
- 27 Feb 2023
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If Republican Tim Scott decides to run for president it could be a campaign about giving conservatism a new coat of paint in the post-Donald Trump era.
The 57-year-old South Carolina senator hasn't announced a 2024 White House bid, but he's teased the possibility as one of the latest big-name GOP faces to make a recent pilgrimage to Iowa, the state with the first-in-the-nation Republican caucuses.
While there, he spoke about growing up poor and a child of segregation with a grandfather who dropped out of school in the third grade to pick cotton.
Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has in the past publicly spoken up about the negative impact of racism in his personal life. But in Iowa he said those circumstances didn't stop him from eventually walking the halls of Congress as a conservative.
"I can go as high as my character, my education, and my perseverance will take me," Scott said during his speech at Drake University. "I bear witness to that. I testify to that."
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David Oman, a former Iowa GOP chair who attended one of the speeches, said segments of the conservative movement are yearning for a more uplifting candidacy that Scott could deliver.
The senator's biography, he said, contrasts with how Democrats describe the country and reminds him of a past Republican president.
"His message was spot on. I remember the ’70s and ’80s and I could almost say it was Reagan-esque," Oman said. "It's sunny optimism and he has a compelling, humble, personal story, but a very optimistic take on the future of America." Read More…
