COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA) – There are just four days left until South Carolina’s Republican Presidential primary, but many voters say they still don’t know who they want to vote for.
“I don’t know who I’m voting for yet, but I think he’s in the running for who I’m voting for in the primaries,” said Clemson student, Dallas Kennedy about front-runner, Donald Trump.
For Kennedy, the chance to hear trump last week in Pendleton helped her and her dad, Kevin, get closer to a decision.
“I’m also an undecided voter at this point,” added Kevin Kennedy.
Recent polling shows the Kennedy’s are a part of the undecided 12 percent of likely primary voters in South Carolina. It’s a high percentage, according to Upstate political consultant, Taft Matney, considering how often the GOP candidates have debated this election cycle.
“They’ll say, ‘I don’t know, but I have my top three.’ They genuinely may not know who’s at the top of that list until they step into the booth,” said Matney of the undecided voters.
Matney said there’s a reason one in eight Republican voters still are unsure. It’s getting negative and fast.
“When you watched the debate Saturday night and you watched a stage full of guys beating each other senseless, it went from a debate to a UFC fight. When that is the tone of the debate, people want to know, is this what I can expect from a leader? Is this what I expect from my president,” questioned Matney.
How important are these undecided voters?
Donald trump is up an average 20 points in South Carolina and seemingly untouchable. Matney believes it is less about unseating Trump and more about narrowing the race.
“When you start looking at those down-ballot candidates and where they are faring, every single vote adding percentage points to narrow that gap is huge,” Matney explained.
If struggling camps like the Bush and Carson campaign can’t pull out a second or third place finish, Matney said they’ll likely suspend their campaigns.
“I would advise every campaign to be here until 7:01 Saturday night. Do not stop,” Matney added.
The most recent poll through the American Research Group (ARG) has Trump leading with a surprising John Kasich coming in second. That’s a considerable bump following the debate here the state where he’s been coming in 4th and 5th place. That poll spoke to voters after the debate in Greenville, Saturday.
