ELECTION/GOP/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Gov. Henry McMaster’s bid to hold on to his office depends on whether his alliance with President Donald Trump endears him to voters who would otherwise be disdainful of a career politician. The 71-year-old is telling voters ahead of Tuesday’s [6-26-18] gubernatorial primary runoff that he and the president aren’t just friends, but ideological doppelgangers. At a soup-and-sandwich dinner for 100 GOP activists here this past week in the vote-rich Upstate region, Mr. McMaster said he wants to cut taxes, oppose restrictions on guns and outlaw so-called sanctuary cities…Mr. Trump and Mr. McMaster have been allies since 2016, when the latter, then the state’s lieutenant governor, endorsed Mr. Trump in the state’s presidential primary. Mr. Trump repaid the favor by naming then-Gov. Nikki Haley as ambassador to the United Nations, which elevated Mr. McMaster to the governor’s office. It is unclear whether Mr. McMaster’s attempt to recast his political identity after nearly 40 years in the establishment will blunt a challenge by John Warren, a self-made millionaire running as an outsider in the mold of the president.”
-Valerie Bauerlein, “In South Carolina Runoff, Trump Is on the Ballot Twice,” The Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2018 9:00 am