South Carolina has interesting dynamics. When we were in high school, the best of the best consultants were Democrats, which proved itself when the donkeys laid a whuppin’ on the elephants when those guys were around. Most have left the Palmetto State for great jobs in the District. Brain drain, the S.C. Democratic Party has it.

The S.C. Republican Party, however, is in a renaissance of talented young people. Just recently, the SCGOP retained its “First in the South” primary status.

We have big news to celebrate this morning. I just arrived home from Kansas City where at the RNC summer meeting, our First in the South Presidential Primary was secured for 2012. This was a major victory that we’ve been working toward for months, and around the clock.

I want to specifically thank our executive committeewoman Cindy Costa and our executive committeeman Glenn McCall for all their hard work. This wasn’t a simple task by any stretch of the imagination. But as South Carolina has proven over and over again, we aren’t afraid of a tough fight.

Then, the Campaigns & Elections magazine, Politics, mentioned local consultant Wesley Donehue as a 2010 rising star.
As we’ve been often saying, the Democrats have a long way to go these days to keep up with the Joneses.

During a significant portion of our lives, we covered sports for a living. More often than not, a nosh wasn’t available, but for college games — even covering Blinn College football games — there would always be something. It’s an old joke that sportswriters live and die by the food at the events they’re at. For instance — Carolina football’s catered spread was woefully lacking. The Gamecock basketball set-up was much better.

So, naturally, downshifting into the sportswriter lizard brain, we have to again rave about the catering at the S.C. Republican Party‘s Silver Elephant Dinner. As Brad Warthen talked about, we did, “annex a salad.” But it wasn’t his — it was one from one of the open spaces. Still tasty. The dessert wasn’t bad, either. It was a custard creation in an edible bowl with fruit and whipped cream garnishing. Mmm.

U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint were not in attendance, which certainly took away from the spectacle. It would have been great to see them in action. U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham seemed to do a good job, alternating, as we said in a tweet, between red meat and vegetables. Gov. Mark Sanford‘s speech was largely forgettable, as is typically the case. Lt. Gov. André Bauer, Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster and Rep. Nikki Haley gave their well-honed speeches, and didn’t deviate too far out from what was expected from them.

Former presidential adviser Karl Rove‘s speech was, well, too long. But that’s just us — we tend to zone out when being lectured to. However, it started out pretty well, and his recollections of former RNC chairman Lee Atwater were classic. Actually, his remembrances were the best part of the speech, along with his closing story about getting a gentleman of more than 60 years old an exemption to join the Marines and be a medical officer in Afghanistan.

Of course, those of us with an obsession for numbers were waiting for the straw poll results to come in. The announcement went pretty quick — we were unable to jot down all the numbers — but the end up of the gubernatorial poll was striking. Barrett took the poll with 37 percent, followed by McMaster with 34.2, Haley at 18.4 and Bauer rounding out the field with 10.4 percent. Considering that Bauer has a money lead of about half a million dollars more than Haley, getting beat this bad by the field may say a few things about the viability of his campaign (insert bromide about Bauer being counted out and bouncing back).

Also winning were Ken Ard for lieutenant governor, Alan Wilson for attorney general, Mick Zais for superintendent of education, Converse Chellis for state treasurer and Richard Eckstrom for comptroller general. Unless someone was quick with the pen, we’ll have to wait until the sun rises again to search for the exact numbers.

As for the straw poll, we’re of two minds on this. One is that the people voting are committed to the party and people like them are very much more likely to vote in the Republican primaries. The second is that there are a lot of people out there without the money, time or inclination to come to an event like the Silver Elephant Dinner, and they could have a very different outlook on these statewide races.

Regardless, it was a solid event and with the exception of the UStream feed going down and Warthen’s computer not wanting any part of the convention center’s wifi signal, it appeared to be a pretty successful evening for the state GOP.

Being the most conspicuous member of the attendees, and even the motley crew of bloggers at the S.C. Republican Party Silver Elephant Dinner has its advantages and disadvantages. But, the evening has been interesting so far.

First — open bar. We don’t think we’ve ever seen that at a Democratic event, and it’s a nice touch, especially since we didn’t have to spend bank to get here like everyone else in the room. Also, the food was great. The green beans could have been a little better, but the chicken, mashed potatoes and mushrooms were tight. The catering people really did their jobs.

Second — seeing all these candidates, consultants and people I only know from their donations on disclosure reports has been quite interesting. (Hey, hey, Gov. Mark Sanford just walked past blogger row. No eye contact.)

Third — the Columbia Convention Center is jumping tonight. Not only is Silver Elephant going on, but the S.C. Democratic Party‘s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner (oops — forgot it’s always before Ye Olde Fish Fry, but the SCDP convention was earlier today), and it appears that there’s a prom going on downstairs. The Vista is clearly the place to be. Also, hearing Karl Rove sharing anecdotes about Lee Atwater is pretty entertaining.

We’ll see what happens as the night goes on, and if we can make it home without our enemies (frienemies?) throwing us in the back of a van, a la “Thank You for Smoking.”

There have been some interesting things going on recently with the S.C. Republican Party, not the least of which is former party treasurer John Cattano ripping on the party from the child’s blog. But, if you believe all of what he wrote, you aren’t getting the full story. It’s a little more interesting than that.

Sources within the SCGOP told us over the weekend that Cattano was ousted for “bringing drama to the
job,” and that the move wasn’t as amicable as party staffers first indicated. Those sources tell us that Cattano bumped heads with party chairwoman Karen Floyd after he indicated that he and friend Curtis Loftis would run against incumbents Converse Chellis and Richard Eckstrom. While one part of the duo’s plan worked, sources say that Cattano could not acquire a personal loan to finance his campaign due to the failure of his past businesses.

“Cattano didn’t agree with the direction of the party. He believes the party should work in primaries. He was going to run against Eckstrom, but he’s flat broke and unable to secure a loan after he ran his company into the ground,” a source close to the situation told us.

We’re told that Cattano and Floyd had a heated exchange after Cattano demanded that she support him for comptroller. The exchange came just days after Cattano tried strong-arming Kershaw County Republican Party chairman Chris Oviatt into clearing the field for HD-79 candidate Sheri Few. Cattano reportedly used Floyd’s name without her permission, saying that he was speaking on her behalf. Floyd is said to have become very upset with the situation.

“Cattano and Floyd just have different beliefs when it comes to playing in primaries. The drama became so intense that she had to let him go,” a source said. We were also told that Cattano is “making it his mission” to go after Floyd.

The whole situation seems crazy. After all, if you’re the guy drafting the budget, wouldn’t you do something about it then? And if the money being spent for work isn’t going out to firms in the state, it would have to be spent to hire people to do it in-house, which would also mean shelling out cash for benefits and the like, in addition to a salary.

The S.C. Republican Party state operations account was pretty active over the last four months, as the party went to pay off its mortgage. It’s a little strange to see a state party drop half a million in an off year, but if you’ve got the cash, spend it.

SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY
State operations account
Contributions: $408,821.90
Expenditures: $500,609.62
Cash-on-hand: $73,011.94

Significant contributions
S.C. Coastal Conservation League, $400
Non-profit
BMW Manufacturing, $5,000
Auto company
Joe Edens, $15,000
Real estate executive
Roger Milliken, $12,121.30, $50,000, $20,000, $90,000
President of Milliken & Co.
Harry Cato, $5,000
State representative
Dan Cooper, $5,000
State representative
James Harrison/House District 75 Campaign Fund, $5,000
Campaign committee
Robert Royall, $5,000
Former Commerce secretary
Progress Energy, $5,000
Energy company
Jim Dyke, $5,000
Consultant
Joe Wilson for Congress Committee, $25,000
Campaign committee
James Edwards, $1,000
Former governor

Significant expenditures
Gadsden & Greene Strategies (direct mail), $440, $520
Under the Power Lines (media services), $2,000×2, $200
New Level Strategies (media services), $3,750×3
Northbound Design (Web design), $2,899, $2,396
Direct Mail Systems (direct mail), $2,688, $1,694.09
Richard Quinn & Associates (poll), $12,250
FLS Connect (fundraising), $2,169.05

President Abe Lincoln has got his $5-bill hat worn to the side because he’s laid back, like the state parties’ financial operations, at least dealing with the Federal accounts, in November. There was a little fundraising, usual payments, a little action to stay active, but nothing that screamed out anything interesting. Except, that is, a poll paid for by the Democrats. That looked interesting.

S.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Contributions: $90,565.14
Expenditures: $78,397.16
Cash-on-hand: $54,371.22

Contributions of note
Marguerite Willis, $500
Attorney, Nexsen Pruet
Lawrence Chewning Jr., $500
Oral surgeon, Chewning & McDonald
Stephen Wukela, $1,000
Attorney, Wukela Law Firm
Ronald Maxwell, $1,000
Attorney, Maxwell Law Firm
Sun City Hilton Head Democratic Club, $1,000
Local party
Joe Erwin, $1,000
Former S.C. Democratic Party chairman
Charles Patrick, $1,000
Attorney; Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook & Brick
General Electric PAC, $2,500
Corporate PAC
AREVA, COGEMA, Framatome ANP PAC, $1,500
Nuclear energy PAC
IBEW-COPE, $2,500
Electrical workers’ PAC

Expenditures of note
Schedule B
Brilliant Corners (research consultant), $30,000

Schedule H4
American Airlines (airfare), $207.70
ResultsMail (email marketing), $625

S.C. REPUBLICAN PARTY
Contributions: $46,329
Expenditures: $38,843
Cash-on-hand: $39,936.30

Contributions of note
Mary Davis, $500
Retired
First Command PAC, $5,000
Financial services PAC
Shirley Knox, $1,000
Homemaker

Expenditures of note
Schedule B
On The Mark (printing), $9,470.90
Under The Power Lines (Web services), $2,000
Homeyer Strategy Group (fundraising consulting), $2,500
Fisherman’s Wharf Sheraton (lodging), $1,013.72
US Airways (airfare), $674.80

Schedule H4
New Level Strategies (communications consulting), $3,750
Northbound Design (Web design), $2,899

Thursday, the ad-hoc impeachment committee went over the allegations provided by the State Ethics Commission. There was a lot of back-and-forth between the legislators and Gov. Mark Sanford‘s high-priced attorneys. Then it came. The big move. The committee dismissed 28 of the charges.

Yep, there were 37 counts of wrong-doing, and now only nine survive.

But the House impeachment panel took just 31 minutes Thursday to decide 28 of those charges did not meet the “serious” crimes or misconduct standard the state Constitution requires for impeachment.

The committee said Tuesday it likely would ignore half of nine other ethics charges relating to Sanford’s use of state-owned aircraft for personal or political travel.

Lawmakers still could impeach Sanford for serious misconduct because he left the state without informing other officials where he was and misled his staff.

Sanford also still faces the possibility of up to $74,000 in fines from those 37 charges when an S.C. State Ethics Commission panel debates his case in January.

Really, this is simply more good news for Democrats. The longer the GOP is saddled with dealing with the Sanford mess, the worse for the party.

Going into November, the S.C. Democratic Party raised more money spent less money and had more cash on hand in its federal account than its counterpart at the S.C. Republican Party, but didn’t do much with it. The Republicans, on the other hand, were pretty active on the Internet, printing, polling and fundraising.

S.C. REPUBLICAN PARTY
Contributions: $34,484.51
Expenditures: $62,340.61
Cash on Hand: $32,450.34

Contributions of note
None.

Expenditures of note
Schedule B
Drea Byars (fundraising consulting), $2,600
FLS Connect LLC (fundraising), $2,169.05
On The Mark (printing), $1,798.20
Under The Power Lines (Web services), $2,000, $6,000
Direct Mail Systems (direct mail), $1,694.09, $2,688

Schedule H4
Gadsden & Greene Strategies (letterhead and envelopes), $520
New Level Strategies LLC (media services), $3,750
Northbound Design (Web design), $2,396
Richard Quinn & Associates (survey research), $12,250
Under The Power Lines (media services), $200

S.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Contributions: $60,370.30
Expenditures: $46,566.17
Cash on Hand: $42,203.24

Contributions of note
New Jersey Democratic State Committee, $25,000

Expenditures of note
None.

What’s the matter with Spartanburg County? It’s always something with those guys. This week, The Herald-Journal revisited the resolution that was passed by the county Republican Party executive committee this summer, as campaigns are gearing up for the 2010 run. To speak to the executive committee (and the rule will likely begin to move to precinct organizations, if not already), the candidate has to sign a statement saying he or she supports the S.C. Republican Party platform and the U.S. Constitution.

We can see it now. Candidate X looks at the thing and exclaims, “No illegal search and seizure? No forced quartering of soldiers? This thing is bullshit.”

Really, though, the issue is more the SCGOP platform. If a candidate has disagreements, those must be explained. Former county chairman Rick Beltram, not above his own strange actions, said the new rule “smacks of Nazism.” Hyperbole aside, it looks to us as one more bomb thrown into the internal state Republican battle.

In the movie “Reds,” John Reed‘s wife, played by Diane Keaton, finally gets fed up with his shenanigans, lecturing him about the idiocy of fighting to see “which part of the left of the left is the real Communist Party in America.” This is more like fighting over which part of the right of the right is the real Republican Party in South Carolina.

The precinct this all came from is West View B, which is represented by former House candidate Ken Roach on the executive committee. He said that “the idea was borne out of a desire to bring more transparency to campaigns, to go beyond the ‘slick mail pieces’ that inform many voters.” Well, Roach would know. In his primary campaign against Rep. Mike Forrester last year, he had a few “slick mail pieces” attacking his opponent done on his behalf by groups like South Carolinians for Responsible Government.

Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, laid out exactly what’s going down.

“If you’re using it and it’s a fair tool, where you say, ‘Look, if you disagree, we’re not going to prevent you from speaking, we’re not going to summarily execute you, we just want to know the areas where you disagree,’ then that’s fine,” Gowdy said. “… But there are two things that turn people off: People who are running as something they are not for political expediency, and … the moral vanity that causes someone to think they can pick who the ‘real Republicans’ or ‘real Christians’ or ‘real Americans’ are.”

Gowdy said a litmus test designed to weed out people who score 99 out of 100 on a test resulted in “cannibalism.”

Numbers from the October monthly federal fund disclosures revel that the S.C. Republican Party holds a money lead on its Democratic counterparts by more than two-to-one. The SCGOP also raised more money than the S.C. Democratic Party over the period, though the Democrats spent more.

S.C. REPUBLICAN PARTY
Contributions: $37,075.03
Expenditures: $40,347.96
Cash on Hand: $60,306.44

Notable contributions
Tobin Cassels, $2,500
President, Southeastern Freight Lines
William Tobin Cassels, $2,500
CEO, Southeastern Freight Lines
Nelson Mullins, $1,000
Law firm
SCANA Corporation Federal PAC, $5,000
Energy PAC

Notable disbursements
Direct Mail Service (direct mail), $2,871.56, $454
Homeyer Strategy Group (fundraising consulting), $2,500
Richard Quinn & Associates (survey research), $3,250
Under the Power Lines (Web services), $2,000, $415
Jump! Media Services (Web services), $370
Grand Hyatt Washington (lodging), $1,306.34, $867.96
Sam Holland Photography (photography, Silver Elephant), $2,186.50

S.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Contributions: $26,171.34
Expenditures: $49,722.75
Cash on Hand: $28,399.11

Notable contributions
Walt McLeod, $50
State representative
Jay Cox, $1,000
President, Tuomey Healthcare Systems
DNC, $5,000 (transfer)
National committee
Unitemized Contributions/Dollars for Democrats, $24,249

Notable expenditures
ResultsMail (email marketing) $522.30