Biden says he knows South Carolina visit will spark buzz presidential bid

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mere months after the 2012 election, South Carolina is a buzz of political activity with a slate of potential presidential candidates already looking ahead to the state’s “first in the South” primary — still three years away.

Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a tea party favorite with national aspirations, descended on South Carolina on Friday to whip up the partisan faithful and offer a presidential campaign tease for the state. Both parties are preparing for next week’s special congressional election featuring former GOP Gov. Mark Sanford and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.

“As soon as I show up in South Carolina, the Washington press corps comes out and says, ‘Is Biden getting ready?’” the vice president said at an annual party dinner, insisting that he came at the request of another Democrat, South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn. “I’ve got to make clear: I would go anywhere Jim asked me to go.”

At the Democratic confab, more than 1,000 packed a convention center ballroom for the $125-per-person dinner, where Biden laid into House Republicans for “fighting like the devil” for a budget plan that he said slashes education, undercuts law enforcement and gets rid of Medicare.