South Carolina GOP chair at center of Myrtle Beach presidential debate
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Hordes of politicos circle the upstairs bar inside the Sheraton on Sunday evening, constantly refreshing Twitter feeds, sipping libations and searching for the juiciest tidbit in a topsy-turvy GOP race.
It is 24 hours before Myrtle Beach's GOP debate, and the stage, emblazoned with Fox News logos and blocked by barriers, is set for action. But now former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is out, and one podium must drop from the dais. The seating chart hanging inside the GOP's crowded command center also must be reallocated; Huntsman no longer needs 30 chairs in the debate audience.
The GOP staff - huddled with Mellow Mushroom pizza inside the chaotic, crowded center just yards from the bar - quickly erupts in buzzed phones and frenetic action.
Chad Connelly, the affable S.C. GOP chairman from Prosperity, barely notices. He's holding court in a far booth, playfully cajoling a national reporter and far removed from the tweets. He's been the face of the state's Republican Party in the months leading up to the debate. In many ways, his background of business success and even personal tragedy, prepared him for his moment in the national spotlight.
A few minutes later, the civil engineer turned Amway entrepreneur turned motivational speaker turned state GOP chair strides downstairs into January's brisk beach winds. Behind the backdrop of a gigantic Mount Rushmore-esque sandcastle that still includes Huntsman's caricature, Connelly waits for more than 10 minutes with television wires dangling from his pockets so he can chat with Geraldo Rivera at 10:30.
The interview will be Connelly's 25th national appearance in recent weeks, top aide Matt Moore says. Finally, after a 10-minute lull, Connelly is cued with a question: what does Huntsman dropping from the race mean for the party?
Connelly demurs but adds the Myrtle Beach may be the "most decisive and pivotal debate in the entire season." One other question is quickly dispatched, and the interview is over. He is composed and stays on message. Nervous aides breathe a sigh of relief. Connelly speaks for all of 90 seconds.
The aides - Moore and state political director Alex Stroman - are soon bombarded with text messages and emails. One friend of Connelly's writes to say, "Geraldo is obviously a big fan." Connelly beams and tells Moore and Stroman that he loves them.
"I've never doubted that he's meant it," Stroman said.
It is now almost midnight, and there are logistics to discuss inside the debate hall, which Connelly inspects for a final time. Gov. Nikki Haley's staff needs 20 seats together. Ex-Gov. Mark Sanford needs a ride from the airport, and Sanford has an extra seat for a guest. The question resonates with laughter inside the hall: Who might it be?
Connelly is 20 yards away from his staff, wandering across the hall, standing alone and grinning. The grin seems permanently afixed to his face, but it rarely appears forced. As Connelly walks through the hall, he seems awestruck.
The hotel's roar heightens as time passes. Connelly doesn't return to the bar; instead, he retreats to his presidential penthouse on the twelfth floor. Moore says his suite is the nicest in the hotel.
Connelly must sleep. Interview 26 - a live spot with CNN - comes at 7 a.m. And then there's the debate, the evening Connelly has planned for months.
Connelly's bio looks simple and expected for a state GOP chairman: Baptist Sunday school teacher, little league coach, NRA member and motivational speaker. He has a civil engineering degree from Clemson, where his friends will tell you he spent lots of time not studying. He is Dana Connelly's husband and a father of four.
But there's this: In 2006, Chad Connelly and his two young sons came home from church to see his wife of almost 19 years in a pool of blood on the floor.
She had skipped church - just as she had two weeks before - presumably to cook lunch. But the depression that gripped her had taken its final hold in a suicide that devastated his family.
"The boys saw something they never should have seen. I tried to hold them back as much as I could," Connelly says, suppressing tears. "It was a gut kick, an absolutely harsh, brutal scene that feels like TV but you're living it."
For months, he'd grieve in anger. How could she do this? Connelly and Michelle had started a successful Amway business and traveled across the world for business engagements. They had met at Clemson and shared dreams. Their family was young; their boys were happy.
Connelly's motivational speaking business was booming. He had recently published a book.
Now, he would find in a whirlwind of shock, pin-wheeling from phases of depression into resiliency back into depression. Connelly admittedly mellowed some, and the children kept him from falling further into pain: they needed a father, and they needed normalcy.
Haley, after receiving a raucous standing ovation, urges the party to eventually rally behind a candidate that can expel President Barack Obama from the White House.
After about nine months, friends introduced him to a lady named Dana. Her husband had committed suicide, too, leaving her a single parent with two young daughters.
They'd chat on the phone and occasionally see each other. There was a deep connection; no one else understood the deep betrayal and feelings of inadequacy. In July 2007, they were married.
"Michelle believed I'd move on, God ordains us to move on and my boys deserved it," Connelly said, praising the virtues of family.
Moore, his executive director, later adds that his own father committed suicide in May 2009. Connelly and Moore bonded over coffee and forged a deep friendship.
"Chad is the closest thing to a father I have on this Earth, and I'd do anything for him," Moore said.
An aide prods him to move along to the next event. There are speeches to give and donors to schmooze. The debate is 12 hours away.
Connelly bursts into the statewide executive meeting he is expected to lead just two minutes before it begins. In typical fashion, he hugs women and shakes hands of men - sometimes hugging them as well.
"This is the day the Lord has made," he bellows to a full room. "This is the day we've all been waiting for."
The meeting is on schedule until Haley bounds in the door; she wasn't expected but happened to walk by. Haley, after receiving a raucous standing ovation, urges the party to eventually rally behind a candidate that can expel President Barack Obama from the White House.
It's soon time to face the lingering issue in the room: Stephen Colbert. Connelly faced negative headlines after Stephen Colbert almost hijacked the primary, offering the party $400,000 for exclusive naming rights and a ballot referendum: are corporations people or are only people people?
Connelly owes the top brass an explanation. He admits the deal "made him nervous as a cat." But he wanted to reach the "cool and hip" crowd of the younger generation and said the party could use the money. Had the state GOP lost a lawsuit to the county parties in a dispute over who should pay for the state's primary, Connelly would have faced a looming debt.
"I'd wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat thinking I'm on the front page of USA Today as goat of the year," Connelly said.
He adds: "I did interviews with people from places I can't pronounce."
The party's top brass - assembled from 27 counties across the state - laughs off the Colbert criticism and bashes the media in incremental bursts. But all agree: it is best Colbert's name is not on the primary.
Connelly will handle a few more other official duties: his formal chairman's luncheon and several donor greetings. He walks a prominent group of VIPs through the debate hall and shows them their prime seats. In turn, they stage pictures and glow in the spotlight.
The guests are quickly ushered along. At 3 p.m., the building is wiped free of people and swept for bombs. Connelly retreats for respite - a brief chat with his wife and children and a nap. He's been up since 5 a.m.
Connelly emerges again a little before 6, galloping off the elevator into a pre-debate reception. The party is typical political fare: bigwig donors, fancy plates of gourmet food and gossipy conversations and debate predictions. Connelly has schmoozed plenty before, and he's especially good at it.
In separate interviews, several Columbia politicos praise Connelly for his outgoing demeanor and gregarious style. Likewise, several local officials say they've been duly impressed with his ability to handle contentious issues. All interviewed say he's maintained a higher profile than his predecessor, though they're quick to say it's too early to judge his leadership.
But on Monday night, amid clanking glasses and the glow of national cameras, everyone seems to grin.
Connelly's smile - as it has been for days here - may be the widest of them all.
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