Sunday, Sep. 07, 2008

S.C. politicians' wives step up

Two women whose husbands hold office voted at convention

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Their husbands often grab the spotlight, but Charm Altman and Roxanne Wilson are influential members of the state Republican Party as well.

Altman, wife of former state representative and current Charleston County school board member John Graham Altman, and Wilson, wife of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, say political wives often wield a big influence back home while their husbands work in Columbia or Washington, D.C.

“I’m the one that gets down there and does the heavy lifting,” Charm Altman said of the networking, service and local politicking required to hold public office. “I can do the things that he’s not here to do.”

Among 24 S.C. delegates to the Republican convention last week, four women were voting members. One, Wendy Nanney of Greenville, recently won a state House seat. A dozen other women served as convention alternates, including some of the party’s most dependable activists.

Joe Wilson frequently says he could not be in Congress without the support of his wife back home. That support often includes sorting out problems or taking calls from constituents.

“A lot of times all I do is listen,” Roxanne Wilson said. “People have problems, and all they’re doing is venting.”

Roxanne Wilson, the guiding hand in her husband’s political career, decided she wanted to run for a delegate’s seat at the Republican National Convention this year.

Both Wilsons supported U.S. Sen. John McCain. Roxanne Wilson also was on a panel that ensured the state’s much-vaunted status as the “first in the South” primary.

A committee adopted a plan that keeps South Carolina’s GOP primary in that role for four more years.

“This is of immeasurable importance to our state,” Joe Wilson said. “It makes the people of South Carolina very important in the nominating process.”

Charm Altman took pleasure that she was a voting delegate at the convention, while her husband was not.

“I’m not an also-ran,” she said. “I am as important to this party as John Graham.”

O’Connor provided exclusive coverage of the S.C. delegation at the Republican National Convention.