Morrison toils for votes in mayoral race

When a candidate starts campaigning door-to-door on a Saturday morning, it is bound to happen.

A woman answers the door in her nightgown.

But the potentially embarrassing situation didn't cost Columbia mayoral candidate Steve Morrison a vote.

Instead, Betsy Boozer, a resident of Elmwood Park, grabbed a robe and invited Morrison and his entourage inside.

Boozer grilled the first-time candidate with questions for about 15 minutes. Her greatest concern was the creation of a downtown homeless service center, a big issue for her neighborhood.

Morrison discussed different ideas, such as finding a separate facility for treating the mentally ill and addicts. He also said he would work with Richland and Lexington counties so that inmates released from jail are not dropped off downtown every day.

Boozer liked what she heard.

"I intend to vote for you," she said.

Columbia's mayoral race is down to the wire, and candidates are doing everything they can to sway voters.

Morrison is spending every spare moment on the campaign trail while keeping a full schedule as a lawyer at Nelson Mullins.

Saturday, he spent about two hours walking the Elmwood Park neighborhood, talking with voters.

He stopped for a lunch break at his Devine Street campaign headquarters to chat with volunteers.

Then, it was off to a rally at the State House. The event, "Creating a Heritage of Hope: Retiring the Confederate Battle Flag," was organized by Aaron Johnson, one of Morrison's competitors in the race.

Next, he went to a People Over Politics forum at the Cecil Tillis Center in the Celia Saxon neighborhood, where he took time to explain his platform to just a handful of voters.

Campaigning is new to Morrison, who has never sought elected office.

It has been a grueling race with countless community forums, neighborhood meet-and-greets, and handshakes at public events.

At this point, candidates feel like broken records as they explain their campaign platforms over and over.

And over.

"When you are at a forum and you look out over the room and you see the same faces you've seen before, it sort of takes the life out of it," Morrison said. "But not if it's a new person. If you're on a front porch and someone says, 'Hey, I want to talk to you,' it's still energizing."

That's what he did with Mason Smith and Ashley Mulvey. The couple took a break from yardwork to chat with Morrison on the porch of their Chester Street home.

"It was five minutes, but it was nice to be able to have a conversation," Mulvey said.

Morrison walked Elmwood Park on Saturday with George Meriwether, a neighborhood resident who worked about 10 years ago with Morrison at Policy Management Systems Corp.

Meriwether said he also was new to politics.

"It's not the kind of thing that comes easily or comfortably to me," he said.

But Meriwether said he believes so strongly in Morrison's ability to run the city that he volunteered to work on the campaign.

"I've never ceased to be amazed at his work ethic," he said. "He's in the race for all of the right reasons. He blends business sense with a true sense of compassion."

Candidates are invited to all sorts of public events.

They find themselves meeting people and seeing things they never knew existed in Columbia.

Saturday, Morrison found himself in the midst of more than 200 hipsters who had come to the State House to see the local band Confederate Fagg.

The band plays metal music while dressed in tight leather pants, fishnet shirts and other flamboyant outfits.

Before the event, Debi Schadel, a member of Morrison's campaign staff, did her best to explain the band's wild reputation.

"What is this?" Morrison asked.

After hearing the description, he said, "Like Mardi Gras?"

The band headlined the State House rally organized by Johnson. Although Johnson is a competitor, Morrison said he attended because he was asked.

"It's been my policy to accept invitations," he said.

So, Morrison stood in his blue blazer and khaki pants with a crowd of young people where women dressed in vintage dresses with combat boots and men wore concert T-shirts with corduroy pants.

Once the band finished, Johnson jumped onstage and declared, "Now in using some political strategy, I'm going to have my competitor follow that."

Morrison stepped to the microphone and shouted, "Let's hear it for Confederate Fagg!"

The audience cheered.

He then told the crowd that the Confederate battle flag should be removed from the State House lawn, and he read a speech he gave in 2000 when the S.C. NAACP organized its first King Day at the Dome event.

He finished, shook a few more hands and then headed to the forum.

While few people showed up to sit in a two-hour political forum on a beautiful spring day, Morrison spent time once again explaining his positions on issues.

After nearly four months on the campaign trail, Morrison said he has gained a new respect for politicians who must campaign even longer for statewide and national races.

With a week to go in the race, Morrison's schedule is jam-packed with neighborhood association meetings, community banquets and calling voters.

"It's like working three or four more jobs," he said.

Still, Morrison said running for mayor has been a valuable experience.

"It's been like a postgraduate education on our city and the concerns of our citizens," he said.

This story was originally published March 30, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Morrison toils for votes in mayoral race."