We’ve found ourselves perplexed over the recent months regarding the interesting political flexing going on by Steve Benjamin’s campaign for mayor of Columbia. The man ran as the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2002, and counts among his strongest supporters top Midlands Democrats. And yet, it’s not a cut-and-dry situation.
Benjamin hired the local political consulting firm Richard Quinn and Associated to run his campaign. This is the same firm who ran Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster’s race against Benjamin in 2002, and is running McMaster’s gubernatorial campaign. Naturally, that’s giving Benjamin a free pass on RQ&A’s in-house blog, The Palmetto Scoop. Really — Wheels McGee has been at every Benjamin event we’ve ever attended, which is a tad odd for a GOP political consultant and blogger.
In the meantime, he’s also hired several people who were a part of President Barack Obama’s campaign during South Carolina’s Democratic presidential primary (Craig Schirmer and Laurin Manning, among others). Early Thursday morning, Benjamin’s campaign announced it would start running a radio ad playing up his Obama connections in the Democratic-leaning capital city.
COLUMBIA, SC – Steve Benjamin’s Mayoral Campaign broke onto the airwaves this week with a radio ad featuring a 2007 voicemail left by then Senator Barack Obama.
“I’ve saved this voicemail for well over two years now,” Benjamin explains. “It has been a personal inspiration for me because I still believe in what we can do when we work together. I still believe in hope.”
The radio spot, Benjamin’s first, went into rotation this week and can be heard on radio stations all across Columbia and at www.stevebenjamin.com.
This takes an extraordinary amount of hubris, considering that his consultants ran U.S. Sen. John McCain’s Republican presidential primary campaigns in this state not once, but twice. Quinn Sr. was a close, unpaid advisor on McCain’s campaign for president in 2008. Then there’s something else.
Interestingly, the child, who seems fit to consider the majority of Republicans in the General Assembly as socialists, has been slurping Benjamin since the very outset. Baldy ran a line of smack against former Speaker of the House David Wilkins, writing, “Anyway, given how ferociously Wilkins promotes (and protects) his reputation as a “Republican,” we were a bit surprised to see him hosting a fundraiser earlier this week for uber-liberal trial lawyer Steve Morrison, who is running for mayor of Columbia, S.C. on the Leftist Lying Bastard ticket (j/k … it’s a non-partisan election).”
Mind you, he never says things like this about the Quinn firm and its relationship with Benjamin, even while assailing RQ&A when it comes to Innovista. It’s often said that a man is judged by the friends he keeps. Another old bromide is “actions speak louder than words.” Benjamin’s words try to play up his connection to Obama. But his actions in regard to people like the Quinns, Folks and Fogle say so much more.
And at this point, we’ve been totally soured on Benjamin, Morrison and City Councilman Kirkman Finlay III. Somebody put a call in to Aaron Johnson.
Wednesday, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce released its endorsements for the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries. Sen. Vince Sheheen took the nod for the Democrats, which is not very surprising. With the exit of Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod and Columbia lobbyist Dwight Drake from the race, it’s not hard to figure out that Sheheen will best Supt. of Ed. Jim Rex and Sen. Robert Ford for the nomination.
The Republican endorsement went to U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett. Making a decision in that race is way more risky for anyone this far out from the primary. Barrett, Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster and Lt. Gov. André Bauer are in a three-way dogfight for the nomination, and it’s only going to get nastier as the months go on until June.
Wednesday afternoon, the Sheheen campaign launched a new Facebook effort: “Hey, folks — let’s beat Gresham Barrett to the 5,000 mark in FB fans! It would be great if you could click on ‘Suggest to Friends’ underneath the profile picture. Thanks!” That was followed by Barrett’s page responding with, “We’ve been challenged. The Sheheen campaign is trying to beat us to 5,000 fans. Help us get there first by clicking the ‘Suggest to Friends’ link under my picture.” Barrett made it first.
All of this is to say that it looks like the leading candidates for both nominations are already preparing to go at it. That means that the other guys — Rex, Ford, McMaster, Bauer — better step up their campaigns, or the general election campaign will start before the June primary showdown.
Oh, this is fun. MoveOn.org, Brave New Films and the Service Employees International Union went live with a Web site to have some fun with Fox News’ “crying man,” Glenn Beck. Turns out, he has it out for us. Oh noes!
To keep up with everything going on around South Carolina (and Alabama, Alabama football and Alabama softball), we rely on Google Reader. It’s a great tool to use to find out what’s on blogs and in newspapers on a regular basis.
But, one thing we’ve complained about al.com’s feed is that it’s all child molestation, murder, fights, electronic bingo and other wretched topics. This evening, the following one-two punch landed and we’re beginning to wonder if the human race just, very honestly, sucks at life.
Earlier on Monday, we say a post the child did on Sen. Vince Sheheen. We didn’t pay it much mind, because we don’t pay the person writing it much mind. But, later on in the day, we were alerted to a certain phrase in the post. That line did ring a bell at the time, but there were more important things to do.
Sheheen doesn’t speak with an accent any worse than other well-educated state leaders that are South Carolina natives, but whatever. Witness:
That wording was used in something else he wrote — the ultimately failed blueprint to turn the General Assembly into Gov. Mark Sanford’s rubber stamp.
Guess everybody not from the Lowcountry’s landed class is a bumpkin these days.
It’s almost like an old-school rap feud — you hear something once in a while, and you have to go to niche places to learn about it. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and ESPN writer/podcaster/”voice of the fan” Bill Simmons do not like each other. At all. And before you say anything — no, no, it has nothing to do with politics. They’re both liberals. It has to do with competence and being an asshole. Which one is the better representation of a rectum is open to interpretation.
We like Olbermann, except when he gets on those pious kicks that are better left to blubbering doughboy Glenn Beck. Also, his verbal tick of referring to people he’s ripping (e.g. Mr. Simmons) with a perfunctory Mr. or Ms. or whatever is clearly sarcastic, overdone and not cool. We like Simmons except when he goes on and on about the NBA (he wrote “The Book of Basketball” for chrissakes) and his dumbass contemplations on betting lines for the NFL. Why, yes, Bill, I do want to listen to you and Cousin Sal go over this week’s picks, and which one of you can predict the line, for a fucking hour. That shit is disrespectful to the Subway Fresh Take Hotline. On a related note, we also like Tony Kornheiser, who completes the trifecta of current and former ESPN personalities other than Chris Berman that people seem to love to hate.
So, Olbermann’s reflecting on Simmons and his rise within the Mothership, said regarding the Sports Guy and his column comparing Tiger Woods to Muhammad Ali, “In the interim I am again left to marvel how somebody can rise to a fairly prominent media position with no discernible insight or talent, save for an apparent ability to mix up a vast bowl of word salad very quickly.”
Simmons hit back with Tweets, one of which read, “KO, please know the feeling is mutual. You’re my worst case scenario for my career in 12 yrs: a pious, unlikable blowhard who lives alone.” He later mentions cats. As we’ve lived alone with a cat, twice, we’d have to say it’s not bad. Being an unlikable blowhard is a part of being a commentator, especially about politics. Getting high-and-mighty about Dick Cheney is pretty irritating. Of course, Olbermann responds that Simmons doesn’t have room to talk about blowhardedness. The man from Boston yaks about a few topics for a few hours every week in his podcast, but his trespass is his writing. He generated more than 700 pages on pro basketball.
Of course, he wanted to call the massive tome, “Tuesdays with Horry,” which we could get behind, if only for the title.
Olbermann did put the hammer down on the career comparison, however:
I am surprised, however, to be able to shed some light on something that has been a prominent topic of late around the internet: the prospect that Mr. Simmons is leaving ESPN. Admittedly I am something of an authority on this process. Nonetheless, I was stunned to receive several emails from some of Mr. Simmons’ bosses there, thanking me for pointing out the absurdity of, and the embarrassment to ESPN provided by, the Woods/Ali comparison.
About five years ago, I guess, somebody said Tony Kornheiser was the most uncontrollable, unmanageable talent in the history of ESPN. I was, of course, crushed (although I believe I got honorable mention). When ESPN bosses are writing me for helping them about somebody they claim has now lapped Tony and myself, I am left to conclude only that if Mr. Simmons does leave ESPN, it may not be entirely of his own choosing.
BURNED!
Now the eyes of a nation turn back to Simmons to see him compare Olbermann to the person he most dislikes in the most recent Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
The second edition of “Happy Hour” occurred this week, sponsored by Ragley Public Affairs (thanks for the drinks, J-Dub). The guest for the evening was former The State vice president and editorial page editor Brad Warthen. Then we decided to show up, doing our best to string along a rum and Diet Coke for about 15 minutes.
Well, how about that. The new Wink hit the virtual newsstands this week, containing inside it all sorts of Spring fashions. For women. But, hey, all is not lost fellas. Like we did in the first issue, we went calling on Carolina athletics again for a good story.
This one is about Jack Easterby, head of the USC Fellowship of Christian Athletes and an advisor to the Gamecock men’s basketball team. It, eh, it ain’t bad. Check in on Page 22.
Everyone knows how hard Carolina coach Steve Spurrier is on his quarterbacks. Considering how mediocre many of them were after college (OK, we’re just talking about Florida here), it seems to lend credence to the idea that Spurrier’s unorthodox — perhaps even dickish — treatment of his signal callers worked when it was needed.
But like other championship coaches (Paul Dietzel, Lou Holtz) who arrived in Columbia, Spurrier isn’t happy with what’s going down on the field. Especially the play of ‘09 starter and presumed ‘10 starting quarterback Stephen Garcia. What, with quarterbacks transferring (one to play baseball at Alabama), The Head Ball Coach didn’t have much in the bullpen.
So, Spurrier let his opinion be known when asked about it at ESPN The Weekend.
(via EDSBS)
The S.C. Policy Council’s half-assed attempt at a blog came at a bad time. Granted, back in 2007 when it and the other members of the State Policy Network were brainstorming about hiring “investigative reporters,” it couldn’t be suspected that the SCPC’s political capital would be reduced to a governor who’s been stepping out, some no-count back-benchers in the General Assembly and an overgrown child. Three years sure changes things, doesn’t it?
So, now they’re reporting on people go dumpster-diving at DHEC and God knows where else for news, but that isn’t even the best part. The SCPC has been tubthumping for transparency since forever, acting like it’s the high-and-mighty outpost a block from the State House complex.
Hence, from The Nerve:
Um, then what’s this below that image?
They also don’t want you to know who is funding them, because they’re a non-profit and political speech and blah blah blah. Whatever. Really — if you take the SCPC seriously anymore, you should examine your trustworthy sources.
