(WASHINGTON EXAMINER) Call it the Tim Scott primary.
The 49-year-old senator has quickly emerged as South Carolina’s most popular Republican, making his endorsement perhaps the biggest prize of 2016 in the Palmetto State’s make-or-break presidential primary. Scott has forged relationships with key players across the spectrum of South Carolina Republicans — business leaders, conservative activists and Establishment operatives — and White House hopefuls looking for an edge are looking to borrow a little of his political magic.
Thus with his signal Tuesday that he would not only be endorsing a 2016 candidate but using support for school choice as a central criterion in his decision, Scott has claimed an important piece of political and policy territory in the GOP.