For weeks, we’ve heard rumors of what was going to happen to Upstate, South Carolina businessman John Warren if he made it to a “Republican” runoff against incumbent governor Henry McMaster.
Now that Warren has qualified for this head-to-head, winner-take-all battle – what should we be on the lookout for?
A nasty fight, that’s what …
According to our sources, the 71-year-old McMaster – who led the GOP gubernatorial field on Tuesday with 42.3 percent of the vote – is preparing to throw a pair of hard punches against the 39-year-old Marine, who finished in second place with the support of 27.9 percent of the “Republican” electorate.
One jab McMaster is reportedly preparing to throw will cast Warren as an unscrupulous businessman – using unethical practices to exploit vulnerable consumers in an effort to pad his firm’s profits. But the knockout blow, according to these sources, is the charge that Warren has somehow been dishonest in touting his record in the military – allegedly exaggerating the number of combat missions in which he has participated.
Are either of those allegations true?
Good question … but that’s not the real question.
The real question is whether McMaster’s campaign can make voters believe the allegations are true.
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[/timed-content-server]Warren is also expected to come out swinging against McMaster, who was able to avoid negative scrutiny during the “Republican” primary’s most critical phase.
How come? Because Warren was fending off furious last-minute attacks from Lowcountry labor attorney Catherine Templeton, who finished in third place in the GOP primary.
Had Templeton not gone negative on Warren, our guess is he and McMaster would have both finished in the mid-to-high thirties on primary day … making Warren the prohibitive favorite to claim the GOP nomination.
As it stands, though, Warren has considerable ground to make up – although McMaster’s plans to punch him would certainly indicate the incumbent is afraid Warren will make a compelling run against him.
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