Scott on verge of national profile

MOUNT PLEASANT -- One day after his big 1st Congressional District win, U.S. Rep.-elect Tim Scott gave several interviews to national media but said he doesn't see himself as an emerging rock star on the national political scene.

"Rock stars are like Darius Rucker, and I can't sing," Scott quipped Wednesday, just moments before talking to CNN.

"I see myself as a country boy trying to make a living and make sure entrepreneurs like myself have an opportunity to continue to do what we do best."

With his win, Scott and U.S. Rep.-elect Allen West, R-Fla., are poised to become the first black Republicans in Congress since Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma retired in 2003.

Scott said he hopes to talk soon with Watts, who currently runs several businesses in Washington, about what Scott can expect as he prepares to take office in January.

"It will be nice to have somebody who has already been there, done that, got the T-shirt, giving me some advice," Scott said.

Scott's win, one in which he garnered 65 percent of the vote against six opponents, was noticed far from the 1st District.

Andy Sere, a National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman, said Wednesday, "Leaving race aside, Tim Scott will be a fighter for his constituents in Washington and a forceful advocate for conservative change. But the historical significance of his victory cannot be overlooked."

The Washington Post noted Scott's win as well as West's, plus Indian-American Nikki Haley's victory in South Carolina's gubernatorial race and six successful GOP Hispanic candidates.

"For a party that has long struggled under the 'old white guy' stereotype, (the) election was a welcome change," the newspaper wrote.

It's possible that Scott's win will open up a vacancy on Charleston County Council, if Councilman Joe McKeown -- Scott's close friend, business partner and fellow church member -- decides to become his chief of staff. Scott of North Charleston was on County Council from 1995 to 2008, when he was elected to the state House of Representatives.

"Joe McKeown is the perfect choice," Scott said. "I'm not sure he'll be in that position, but he's the perfect choice for it," Scott said.

McKeown said he and Scott have been so focused on the campaign that they have talked little about what would happen afterward. McKeown will lead Scott's transition team but would have to disentangle himself from his business, resign from County Council and move to Washington to take the job.

"What he does will be a decision we'll make together, but he absolutely is the person I would trust the most in that position," Scott said, adding that he hopes McKeown would serve in the role, "whether it's now or later."

Scott, 45, based his campaign on the conservative, tea-party-tinted themes of stopping spending, lowering taxes and fighting the recently passed federal health care reform.

He talked little about his historical bid to become one of the few black Republicans to serve in Congress in recent memory. However, Scott said he realizes that he will continue to be asked about that --and he revels in the extra-large microphone he can expect to see before him.

"If I can continue to talk about what the tea party talks about, what conservative Republicans talk about -- that if you don't have it, you just can't spend it -- if I can do those things because I have a very shiny bald head, then that's a wonderful thing," he said.

Scott said he has not decided if he will join the Congressional Black Caucus, though he did join the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus.

He said doing so would give him another platform to spread his conservative message, but "the con of it is that it re- enforces the fact that there's a necessary divide, and that divide has to be addressed only by the people who have the same characteristics. I just don't think that's fundamentally good for our country.

"I'm of the idea, as Pollyanna as that may sound or as Utopian as it may be, I believe the more we focus on a collective response to all the issues, the more it impacts appropriately and properly those folks who desperately need help."

Reach Robert Behre at 937-5771.