Some people in the South Carolina political discussion are so ignorant as to come up with polemics whenever government spends one dollar of taxpayer money. However, we believe that certain things that don’t immediately deliver a return on investment are worth investing in. Consider among those the Palmetto State’s historic sites.
In the South, the past is never really past. We love our history. We love our ancestors. We don’t necessarily like the government putting its hand in what’s happening, but corporations aren’t exactly lining up to thoroughly bankroll historic sites. That’s where the government comes in.
Right now, money for work at the Fort Moultrie visitors’ center on Sullivan’s Island is being held up by U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky. The former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers has hurled a wild pitch. The whole idea is under some misbegotten concept of fiscal responsibility.
The action comes as a result of Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning’s decision to block key legislation that would have extended several critical priorities for middle class families. That legislation covered tax credits for COBRA health coverage, unemployment insurance for 400,000 people, as well as the short-term extension of the Highway Trust Fund. The Fund supports all surface transportation programs for the nation -– highways, bridges, transit and safety inspections, as well as efforts to encourage seat belt use and to fight distracted and impaired driving.
“As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.”
Let’s put this out there, though. Would the Sons of the American Revolution endorse this action? Would the Sons of Confederate Veterans? It’s a fairly good assumption that most members of both fraternal organizations. despite their conservative ideological beliefs, would be against it. That’s because preserving our nation’s history, and making it available to the American public, is one of the things that the Federal government should be doing.
It’s just a shame that it took a post by the S.C. New Democrats on Indigo Journal to bring this to our attention. This is not an ideological or a partisan issue. We’re desperately seeking S.C. Republicans that will take up the banner for our state’s historical sites.
The attack sheep of former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s U.S. Senate campaign, Demon Sheep, isn’t content to just hang around and be a joke in the Republican primary campaign. No, it’s looking at the big time. That is, MTV, VH1 and a guest appearance on “Project Runway.”
You can’t stop Demon Sheep, you can only hope to contain it.
Here’s something to ponder. Don’t consider it too much, though, because it takes actual thought and holding two separate ideas in one’s head, which is rare in political discourse or study in the past several years. Like, how President Ronald Reagan and the Teamsters were tight. That’s an interesting story, if you ever care to look deep into it.
OK, so let’s look at it — when Howard Dean beat South Carolina’s own Donnie Fowler to head the DNC, he launched something that changed the last two election cycles (that, and President George W. Bush turning off America to the GOP for four years). It was the 50-state strategy. The idea at the time was that Democrats shouldn’t give up any district, any state, and try to be competitive anywhere. We’re on record as saying at the time that this was a damn fool idea.
Really, it was all, “What, Mr. BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA? You think you have the money and ability to recruit to beat Republicans in the South and Midwest? Go back to Vermont and keep your crazy to yourself.” Still couldn’t believe it when, late for a morning grad school class in early 2006, heard Charlie Cook on NPR saying the numbers heavily favored the Democrats. “Sure, Charlie. We’ll believe it when we see it. Have you seen the Dems the past six years? They can’t win dick. Except Jim McGreevey. He had that nailed down.”
Good thing we don’t gamble…that much. The 50-state strategy paid off. Conservative Democrats took districts all across the country. Jim Webb took out that smarmy douchebag George Allen (seriously — we wouldn’t vote for Allen if he bought us a pony and crapped rainbows. His dad was a legendary football coach. Wha’ happen’?). Not that Webb is a saint, but Allen is just so personally distasteful. Back to the story.
President Barack Obama and his team was able to build on that and flip North Carolina, Virginia and Indiana. The fact Obama’s approval rating is hovering around 50 percent and everybody hates Congress is not a surprise. Everybody always hates Congress, and U.S. Sen. John McCain was not a strong candidate the last time. This looks to us like a 50/50 country still. But here’s the rub.
People are retiring right and left. Democrats and Republicans. The retirement of U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh on Monday, a reliable moderate Democrat, is a continuation of a troubling development. It’s also a natural outgrowth of the eternal conflict between politics and policy. What’s good for one is not necessarily good for the other.
For example, we’ve heard from Dems that Dwight Drake could really get things done as governor, considering his extensive contacts in business and years of working the General Assembly. Maybe like an LBJ-as-lobbyist turn. But Drake’s a horrible candidate. He’s got more baggage than a large passenger plane and, though he shows political acumen, sometimes misses the cues that people who have run a few contested races catch on to.
In Congress, a bumper crop of moderate and conservative Democrats keeps the chambers balanced and the battles tough. Horse-trading, all types of dealing and the compromises that come from legislative action where no one has an iron hand has become the way things go. As liberals complain about and conservatives don’t like to admit, shit’s a lot closer than the numbers say. And it’s because of Democrats elected in marginal districts that are willing to work with the GOP.
With this year appearing like a very good year for Republicans, the NRCC, NRSC, RNC, every consultant far and wide and probably even your mother (but not ours) are doing whatever they can to pick up open seats and unseat Dems in marginal seats that won in the past two cycles.
This. is. bad. news.
We don’t blame the campaign types. We love campaign types. In the parlance of a Carolina crowd on gameday, “Go. Fight. Win. Kick ass.” Their job is to win. You don’t win, you no longer have a job, Bubba. Screw policy, alliances, whatever. If the person has the right letter next to their name, let’s win.
Here’s the problem, though. The lefties have cooled down since the big flare-up of 2003-04, and now it’s time for the far right to collectively lose its shit. Tea party this, secession that, and let’s carry firearms on trains, because that’s a great idea. We don’t have patience for extremists, but if it’s one party, OK, we can sit it out. Consider this, though — if a whole gigantic group of moderate and conservative Dems are gone, and all you have are liberals from liberal places, the average mainstream conservative Republican is going to be fucked.
Hardcore liberals to the left, activists in rebellion to the right. Talk about gridlock. And if you think the American public hates Congress now, just wait to see what happens when Code Pink and the John Birchers draw knives on the House floor. Actually, we do want to see that: “Speaker Pelosi! Minority Leader Boehner! It’s time to ENTER THE OCTAGON!” The favorite would be Boehner, but Pelosi’s short, wiry and has a low center of gravity. It would probably be a pick ‘em by match time.
Unless there’s a hostile takeover of the Republican leadership, we’re willing to bet they’re not going to be happy a month or two into 2011. You’ve got members of your own party who will not compromise on anything, and then there are liberal Democrats who think you’re an ignorant theocrat. There’s no win there. And forget about any meaningful legislation. If Congress can manage to pass the budget in 2011 and 2012 without a government shutdown, it’ll be a fucking miracle, if what is expected to happen in November does happen. It’s not like the GOP is solely to blame. Democrats went after moderate Republicans in the Northeast for years. You’d think that there’s a lot of Dems in Congress that wouldn’t mind having a few more Chafees and a few less Scott Browns to deal with. Well, you reap what you sow.
We’d like to think that the fire-breathers at the extremes could examine what’s really important and stop posturing. Believe it or not — and a lot of people don’t — real change happens between the center-left and the center-right. If you want an example, check the super-majorities that LBJ managed to pull off with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
After this election cycle, we’re going to see a whole lot of nothing, a lot of grandstanding and any attempt to fix the problems we have in this country will be delayed for another two years. That’s a pox on both the parties.
If there’s a Democrat in this state that is actually optimistic about the party’s chances in Congressional elections, they’re probably on drugs. Wednesday, the Democratic contender against U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, pulled out of the race unexpectedly. We thought Chad McGowan was going to go all the way as the sacrificial donkey, but he made the right decision.
In a statement released during the afternoon, he said:
I’ve come to the conclusion that now is the wrong time for me to mount a successful campaign for the United States Senate. The demands of a young family place a premium on every minute. There is nothing more important to me than my wife and three small children. In order to fulfill my duties as a husband and a father, I’ll be leaving the race for United States Senate effective immediately. A few years from now, the kids will be older and in a phase of life that can tolerate the demands of a successful run. In the meantime, I’d like to thank my supporters for standing tall with me thus far, but ask that they understand that my kids come first and they need me at home. I am still very much committed to the cause of fixing our broken political system, and will be fighting from the sidelines to defeat Jim DeMint and others who think South Carolina’s best days are behind us.
We thought McGowan never had a chance. Success for him, in our book, would be getting the spread under 10 points, and even that was unlikely. As of the last disclosures, he had about $91,000 in the bank, compared to DeMint’s $3 million-plus. Facing a 33-1 money disadvantage and running against a popular Republican in a conservative state in a Republican cycle all added up to epic failure.
If we were McGowan, we’d sit out this cycle, too.
There’s been much hullabaloo over recent days involving Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster and yet another of his Quixotic quests — to investigate the dealings between U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and Ben Nelson involving a deal to get the Senate Democats’ health care bill passed. We’re not saying that it didn’t look shady, but shady deals in the furtherance of passing legislation is just a part of doing business, no matter which party to which you belong.
And here’s the thing — it’s a national effort. Against machinations in Congress. If the deal, and the one involving U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, are to be investigated, shouldn’t it be by elected officials in Congress? Or someone involved in Federal-level law enforcement? What exactly does the chief law enforcement officer of our state have to do with Federal legislation, and what generates that legislation? Moreover, why the hell is he wasting his time on this matter?
Yeah, we know it’s mind-boggling, but it’s just another campaign ploy on the road to the S.C. Republican gubernatorial primary. Like the poker idiocy and the Craigslist debacle before it. We’d still like to see an all-out action to curb crack use, which hits the least fortunate members of society and drives up crimes like theft, robbery and burglary, among others. But that wouldn’t raise favorability ratings among the GOP base, so it’s left to local officials and cash-strapped agencies.
Seriously, while this mess is going down, McMaster has had an ethics report on actual misdeeds by a state official — that would be our illustrious Governor — on his desk for months. That’s something he can actually do something about. Too bad any sort of investigation is continually put off by these grandstanding stunts.
Though we think it’s highly unlikely that Republicans can take either chamber of Congress this year, the retirements of high-level Democrats is drastically changing what will be the look of Congress in 2011. This week, U.S. Sens. Byron Dorgan and Chris Dodd have said that they will not seek reelection. Instead of a takeover, the division of seats on Capitol Hill may look closer to the 50/50-style splits of the Bush years.
Dorgan’s North Dakota seat is almost assuredly going to flip to the GOP. The state is conservative on the whole, and Gov. John Hoeven was already anticipated to run. In 2008, Hoeven roundly trounced his Democratic opponent. Considering the anti-incumbent atmosphere, and how conservatives have become increasingly polarized, Dorgan was probably going to lose in November.
Dodd has encountered problems since he ended his presidential campaign. It’s odd that a long-serving Democrat in the Northeast could face serious reelection trouble, but Dodd was in a bad position. Republicans Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon, the two currently leading the GOP primary race, are beating Dodd in the polling, on average. The Connecticut senator’s job approval and favorable ratings are both in the tank, as well. The benefit here is a Democrat, state Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal, is generally considered a strong candidate and would have a much easier time keeping the seat blue than the incumbent.
In the House, there haven’t been retirements on the level of these two, but it’s not going to matter. In 2006 and 2008, Democrats in general and the DCCC in particular used voter discontent against Bush and the GOP to pick up marginal districts with moderate Democrats. For those who aren’t going to go Parker Griffith and make the opportunistic switch, many will probably go down to defeat for the same reason the Republicans did in the prior cycles — people just aren’t satisfied with who is in power.
Those of us who view election nights like football games, couldn’t get enough of the never-ending 2008 Democratic presidential primary race.
Hack A: “Who’s up tonight?”
Hack B: “Ohio and Texas.”
Hack A: “Awesome.”
And this is how it went for nearly a year. The superdelegates were a whole different kettle of fish, which introduced yet another twist to the procedure. Granted, their presence in the process was a little un-democratic (and in the big D sense, as well), but screw it. Can’t be any more off-putting than letting computers help determine the national championship.
The DNC’s Democratic Change Commission, led by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, will be forwarding the recommendations to the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. One of the rule changes is to make sure superdelegates have to vote along with the majority of their state. Makes sense.
Another change is to shorten the primary season. In other internal fights, this is easier said than done. The DCC suggests making sure no primary or caucus could be held before Feb. 1, and generally try to keep most of the elections to March. Now just watch the state parties complain until nothing happens.
Just because you got elected to one term (by law) as the governor of Virginia does not mean you’re hot shit. You may just be a godawful person when it comes to policy, and you got lucky because the electorate was not interested in electing the person from the other party. Why, hello former Va. Gov. Jim Gilmore.
Gilmore was an unmitigated disaster as chief executive of the Old Dominion. Thanks to how he spectacularly fucked up, Democrats won consecutive gubernatorial terms and he got beat by about 2-1 by former Gov. Mark Warner in the 2008 U.S. Senate race. Any conservative organization worth its bank account should know better than to involve itself with this albatross.
But apparently the Free Congress Foundation is totally A-OK with hiring Virginia’s worst governor in over a generation to head up its effort.
Though it bills itself as nonpartisan, the studies that the group published over the past year, on such issues as global warming, stem-cell research, health-care overhaul and the Nobel Peace Prize, have a decidedly anti-Obama slant.
In a letter seeking money for the organization, Gilmore said “our goal will go beyond solely moving the debate in the right direction. We need to move the country in the right direction.”
Reached at his Henrico County home, Gilmore said he no longer practices law and plans to devote most of his time to the group. He will also continue to serve on four corporate boards.
Gilmore was governor from 1998 to 2002. He was chairman of the Republican National Committee for 10 months in 2000-2001. In 2007, he explored seeking the Republican nomination to run for president, but dropped out due to lack of support.
Gilmore ran for the U.S. Senate in 2008 and lost in a landslide to Democrat Mark R. Warner, who had succeeded Gilmore as governor.
In his fundraising letter, Gilmore said, “there’s no doubt that we need to aggressively respond to the liberal agenda currently dominating the political debate in our country.
“It’s not enough to say that government-run health care, cap-and-trade policies and higher taxes and deficits are the wrong approaches. We need to advocate a positive, conservative agenda that will expand freedom, protect our culture and defend our country from terrorism and other threats.”
If the FCF had any influence before, you can consider that at an end, now. Gilmore is like the inverse King Midas — everything he touches turns to shit.
Per Randy Newman, “Let’s drop the big one now.”
Like Master Shake reading a Redbook on a spaceship, we were done with this health care debate when it started. Democratic plans, Republican opposition, who the hell really cares? The people who really need help aren’t going to get it. Maybe it’s just our internal populist, union background coming out, but you can’t trust rich people for shit. And that goes for liberals and conservatives alike.
It’s simply hard to believe that families like ours will be helped by the Democratic plan, or would have been helped if the Republicans had succeeded in stopping it. You can practically count on your fingers the amount of legislation that helped everyday Americans. Let’s see: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the LBJ civil rights trifecta (civil rights, voting rights, fair housing) and the Family and Medical Leave Act. You can throw in the minimum wage and child labor laws if you’re feeling frisky.
That’s why all this bitching and moaning leaves us bored to tears. It’s drawn the worst out of both — achingly earnest Democrats, and ridiculously irritable Republicans. To aggressively paraphrase Robert Duvall’s character in “The Paper,” the feeling is, “You know what every politician in this country needs to do? Is shut-the-fuck-up.” It is, as Shakespeare wrote, “Sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
So, the bill will be signed into law. A couple people will be helped. A couple people will be harmed. And the nation will keep humming along. But for those who need affordable health care the most, nothing will be done.
If U.S. Sen. John McCain was an LOLcat, his picture would say, “I can has irony?” The man who tubthumped all during the 2000 Republican primary race for campaign finance reform seems to have violated the law he co-wrote with U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold several years ago. Yeah, color us surprised that an easily-figured out mistake was overlooked by McCain and his guy in South Carolina, gubernatorial candidate and Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster. It’s like that sort of thing happens all the time.
Notice, in the letter McCain sent to raise money for Henry Mac, he failed to include a main part of his legislation.
My Friend,
South Carolina occupies a special place in my heart. I will always be grateful to you for your willingness to stand by my side during our campaign to defend the greatness of America.
Our South Carolina primary victory made it possible for me to make our case to the nation. And while we fell short in November, I believe today there is a rising tide of determination across this nation to return to the cause of freedom. I know that you and others in South Carolina are ready to rise to meet that challenge.
As you know, there is a movement afoot by the defenders of big government to take over health care, to raise our taxes, re-distribute wealth and place staggering debt on the shoulders of future generations.
There has never been a time in our history when it was more important than it is today to elect leaders with integrity, experience, good judgment and solid conservative principles.
You have such a leader in Henry McMaster, who, as you know, is now running for Governor of South Carolina.
I have known Henry for over a decade. He was the very first person Ronald Reagan selected to serve as U.S. Attorney. And for the past seven years, as your Attorney General, Henry has set an example for the nation on how a dedicated champion for conservative government can make a tremendous difference in the lives of citizens.
Henry McMaster truly has earned a national reputation for his effective crackdown on domestic violence, internet predators, polluters and white collar criminals who ruin lives and exploit the innocent. Henry has always been faithful to the core conservative values we share.
I was honored to have Henry serve as my statewide co-chairman in South Carolina. I know he is the right candidate to control excessive spending, create the jobs so badly needed during these difficult economic times and put South Carolina on the path to prosperity. I also know from personal experience that Henry is a man of tremendous personal integrity and dedication to service.
Please join me today in providing support to Henry’s campaign for Governor.
While he has an excellent opportunity to win this important election, victory in a statewide campaign is incredibly expensive. I am asking you to consider sending Henry a contribution as soon as possible to help him carry his message to the voters of South Carolina.
I know you are getting dozens of letters and calls with requests from various candidates for donations. But no race on the ballot this year in South Carolina has the potential of making such an important and positive impact on the future of your state.
Henry McMaster is the right candidate for Governor.
I urge you to help him, work for him, contribute to him and get actively involved as soon as possible. For the future of South Carolina and the cause of conservative government, I know you will be glad you did.
Thank you for your consideration. And most of all, thank you again for the trust and support you placed in me. I will always be grateful for your friendship. Best wishes to you and your family for a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.
Sincerely,
John McCain
Funny, the letter doesn’t include this statement, “I am not asking for funds from corporations, labor organizations, or other Federally prohibited sources.” That’s a part — specifically, 2 U.S.C. 441i(e)(1)(b); 11 CFR 33.62 — of the law that McCain authored that he apparently doesn’t think applies when it comes to (ahem) his “friends.”
So, when is McMaster going to talk to his bud, or refund the money raised by this illegal fundraising letter?
