That’s especially true in the donor class. “I would say there is a sense of loyalty of people who contributed to George H.W. and George W.,” says Barry Wynn, a former South Carolina state party chairman. “I don’t think I’ve talked to anybody who was involved in those financial efforts who’s not ready to saddle up again for Jeb. I don’t see any of them giving any money to Rubio, Walker, and the new class.”
That sense of succession has been around South Carolina for a long time. Back in 2008, at a John McCain rally in Columbia, I asked a number of important political figures — all of whom had supported George W. Bush in the bitterly contested 2000 primary with McCain — whether looking back they still believed they were right to choose Bush. They all said yes. They explained to me that they had strongly backed Ronald Reagan, and then moved on to Reagan’s designated successor, the elder Bush, and then naturally supported Bush’s son W. The line of succession was intact.
Those are the people now contributing to Jeb in South Carolina. Beating that will be a tough job.
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