Ron Barnett

rbarnett@greenvillenews.com

EASLEY -- A crowd of more than 2,000 turned out on a frigid Valentine’s Day afternoon Sunday to hear the candidate who a CBS poll said came out on top in Saturday night’s rumble at the Peace Center.

Sen. Marco Rubio said most of his town hall meetings have attracted 150-200 people. “This is great,” he told the friendly crowd overflowing the Easley High School auditorium.

The poll said 32 percent of viewers felt that Rubio won the debate, beating out Donald Trump (24 percent) and John Kasich (19 percent), Ted Cruz (12 percent), Ben Carson (8 percent), and Jeb Bush (5 percent).

Rubio got in a few jabs at his competitors for the GOP nomination for president, such as, “My conservatism didn’t just start two years ago,” an apparent reference to Trump.

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But mostly he focused on his vision for the country and touted himself as the man who could heal the rifts within the Republican Party that were evident in Saturday’s finger-pointing shouting match.

“We’re not going to agree on everything, but if in October we’re still fighting each other, if in August we’re still fighting each other, we aren’t going to win,” he said.

The Easley event was interrupted twice by a pair of immigration protesters, shouting and holding up signs that said, “Rubio wants to separate families.”

He drew his biggest standing ovation of the day with his response: “We have the right to determine who comes here and when they come here.”

The event was organized by state Rep. Neal Collins, who used Facebook and his network of supporters to get more than 2,000 people pre-registered – more than twice as many as the auditorium is designed to hold.

Some stayed back in the cafeteria and ate Mutt’s barbecue, baked beans and slaw in what was intended as an overflow room, but because of problems with the live feed, they spilled out into the hallways and aisles of the auditorium.

“I couldn’t be more proud being a day-one supporter of him,” Collins said.

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Some who came said they were looking to find a candidate to get behind to assure that Trump doesn’t become the nominee.

Greg Hall, owner of a small electrical contracting business in Easley, said he likes Rubio and neurosurgeon Ben Carson and was trying to learn more about both to make up his mind on how to vote in Saturday’s primary.

His wife, Holly, said she wants to see the party get past all the “bickering, name calling and personal attacks” of the Peace Center debate.

“I think we need to reach a point where all of the Republicans can kind of work together because there is going to come a point where we need to stand behind each other if we’re going to beat Hillary Clinton,” she said. “And I didn’t see a whole lot of that last night.”

She said she thinks Rubio is the stronger candidate between him and Carson, and he appeals to her conservative Christian perspective.

“Trump is a strong candidate. I think he has the ability to beat Hillary Clinton. I think he’s got a good following behind him. I am not comfortable with where he stands on abortion," she said. "That is my chief point with him – along with the nastiness."

“We need a humble man of God to run the country.”

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Easley Mayor Larry Bagwell, who welcomed the crowd to the event, said he had been undecided, but after watching Rubio’s performance in the debate, and hearing him Sunday, he has decided to give the senator from Florida his vote.

“I think his enthusiasm, he’s been very vocal that he believes in this country, he believes in the Constitution as it is written,” Bagwell said.

“Trump is a spoiled brat the way I look at it, and I think he would have a hard time getting down to the level he would have to get.”

Rubio spoke for about a half hour, touching on topics ranging from immigration to national security to the economy, and took questions for about 20 minutes.

One came from a young woman who said she was concerned about how she was going to be able to afford to go to college and asked him what his plan was to make higher education more accessible.

He said he wants to require colleges to tell prospective students upfront what kind of income their graduates make so they can compare that with the cost of tuition. And he wants to give people college credit for what they already know rather than making them take unnecessary courses.

He testified to his religious convictions when a man spoke about his lost hope over the past seven and a half years.

“Here’s where I find my solace: God’s in control of everything,” Rubio said

“No matter what happens, God will give me the strength to get through it,” he said, drawing a big round of applause.

On a question about race relations, Rubio said that’s not something that government can necessarily address.

He cited South Carolina as a shining example of healing in that area, in the forgiveness shown by the families of the victims of the Emmanuel AME Church shootings in Charleston last year.

He repeated his support for former President George W. Bush’s handling of national security in the aftermath of 9/11 and told a veteran who complained about the Veterans Administration’s refusal to pay his hospital bill that he would push for veterans to be able to use their benefits at any hospital.

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