GOP Candidate Rev. Charles Butler, and his Wife.
I ran into a big surprise this week in Kingstree. Aside from finding Republicans in Williamsburg County, I also met Charles Butler. Charles announced there that he is intending to run for the Republican nomination for the 6th Congressional seat in the US House. That seat is currently being rented by Jim Clyburn, although a debate is brewing locally on whether he actually is doing anything in that capacity anymore.
Butler is a Minister in Orangeburg, and he feels that Clyburn has turned his back on the Christian values that are prevalent in his district. While this is similar to the platform espoused by Gary McLeod, I haven't heard Butler mention putting the US back on the Gold Standard, ending Social Security or banning the US Senate.
While Butler is a political novice, there are several things he has that would make a better candidacy than McLeod or even myself. He is young, well-spoken, friendly, he can out-faith Clyburn with ease, and he is African-American. My hope would be that he has a solid platform of political issues to apply from his faith, rather than the race being just a shift from the Constitution to the Bible.
I'm not endorsing Butler after just one visit, but I am willing to assist any Republican interested in running to make sure they don't make the same mistakes I made in 2004. If you are interested in meeting Butler, my best advice is to attend a local GOP meeting this Fall. I know he has the list - I gave it to him!
Good Luck, Charles !
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13 comments:
someone with no record in the GOP who suddenly wants to run for a congressional seat is crazy, arrogant, a shake-down artist or all of the above.
anyone remember vince ellison - they guy who spent most of his campaign cash at wal-mart for "office expenses" and travel?
anon, you forgot the options of naive, inspired or suckered and that it also applies to the Dems, Libertarians, Communist Workers and Independant Clones of Perot.
Of course your rant that "someone with no record in the GOP who suddenly wants to run for a congressional seat is crazy, arrogant, a shake-down artist or all of the above." is reminiscent of the howls of the supporters of one expecting himself to be annointed to succeed Arthur Ravenel in the early '90s.
Yeah, no record with the GOP, running for congress!! Wait a minute, didn't Mark Sanford start that way?
Brandon
Mark Sanford never asked anyone for a dime. I'm sure this guy isn't gonna plop a hundred grand into his campaign. That's the difference.
Also, anytime Clyburn has opposition, it's good for another 10-15 thousand Democratic votes.
Between 1998 and 2006, three GOP statewide candidates lost by between 400 and 7000 votes. Also, three legislative seats that were in the Sixth CD, in part or whole, were lost in part to Democratic turnout. Two of those seats remain in Democratic hands. That doesn't count a handful of county offices.
This is what a challenge to Clyburn costs Republicans - giving the Democrats the voters and the means to knock out a lot of the little bit of ground the GOP has gained in the 6th CD. A hell of a way to prove a point and satisfy the vanity of candidates who haven't a prayer, don't you think?
I did try to email the candidate in question to get him to come to Clarendon to meet but have had no response. I also believe when Clyburn gets the vote out it hurts the rest of the state. This next election is critical as all of them are.
I can understand the state wide race being hurt in those election years, but who would suffer in a national election year. Maybe one Rep. or Senator? I'm not even sure of that - Larry Grooms has the tightest area in the state, and he's won twice.
Brandon, you get the cookie. Now can you name the fellow that thought the annointing as heir to the Ravenel seat was his?
Mike, in analysis let me see, Larry Grooms seat is not designed as a token minority seat, Gary has been the challenger several years running and I can't say that any seat losses from red to blue aren't from redistricting to meet continuing dictates of reconstruction to supply so many token minority seats. The last time that hit the fan, the house black caucus colluded with the party of Lincoln to redraw district lines after the 1990 census to the dismay of.... yup white bubba redneck Democrats, some now wearing the elephant costume with earholes for donkey ears.
If there is an impact from Castro's bubba Jim having a general election opponent, I'd forecast that it would be mitigated by Butler's candidacy, though some folks are counting on the street money being out there in districts where the literacy test consisted of can you recognize the "Big D" on the lever you're supposed to pull to validate your vote.
West, I would argue that it could be worse, not better, with black candidate. GOP 6th CD candidates have always beaten Clyburn in Florence County - even Gary McLeod.
The only time the Democrats won Florence County that I recall was when Vince Ellison was the nominee, back in 2000.
I would chalk that up to over-caution by Clyburn's people, wanting to compensate for any potential crossover. Maybe they were scared, maybe they weren't. But the numbers there and elsewhere in the district suggest they left nothing to chance.
So much for the "Butler can't hurt" theory. The numbers don't lie.
As to how a higher race can affect lower ones ... it helps fund local get-out-the-vote operations. A legislator like George Bailey in a district where GOP candidates win by narrow vote margins (the winning margin in that district, either way, is in the hundreds every race since 2000) can be (and was) defeated by such efforts.
Think about it - a few hundred votes in and around St. George, a few hundred in Calhoun County, and so forth. It adds up.
The only way Clyburn will not be able to fund his get out the vote operations is to not have a race at all.
A candidate hoping to beat Clyburn would have to get nearly FIFTY PERCENT more votes than any challenger, even John Chase, who was well funded and supported, has ever gotten. That's reality.
It may feel good to see a candidate who will get up in Clyburn's face, but the reality is that the Democratic voters he turns out screws good local Republican candidates across the 6th District who are struggling hard enough to win.
Cutting ones nose to spite their face is fine, if nobody else has to pay the price. But to suggest there are no relationships is lunacy, which is what has infected anyone who wants to go after Clyburn on hate and ego alone.
For once, please leave Clyburn alone. Think for once and give other Republicans a little bit more of a chance.
As for this guy, let him earn his Republican credentials. First by not harming the rest of his party's ticket with his candidacy.
I spoke with this dude on the phone yesterday anybody wants to give him a call give me a call first for help in handling it.
This has been an interesting debate of the issues surrounding a candidacy. Thanks to all for keeping it on track. There are a lot of ways to look at this.....
Will white Republicans vote for a black candidate this time? Did Ellison ruin it for any other black candidates? Are there any scenarios that might minimize the statewide effect, and still allow a GOP candidate? Did I run and bankrupt myself for vanity's sake too? What the heck was I thinking??
Mike, I was once an Ellison supporter, but saw where it was headed and bailed.
I don't think GOP voters knew the difference between Ellison and McLeod. In fact, from what I could tell, GOP voters were plenty willing to vote for the guy, regardless of color. But they do hate Clyburn.
I think the difference was that the Democrats were concerned that a black GOP candidate might attract crossover and upped their turnout efforts. In the end, they over-compensated.
But in order to beat Clyburn, over a third of all Democrats who vote for Clyburn would have to defect in favor of the GOP candidate. That just is not going to happen.
No doubt about that. Sometimes I just hate seeing the lack of PROGRESS over the years. If I ran, I wouldn't delude myself into thinking in terms of victory or defeat, but in terms of relative victory and defeat. 40%, 42%, 37% - how much ground can be made up.
That's the screwy way I gauge winning and losing here..
This person has not made it official according to him. Just heard from him. So when is he going to make it official. Something smells.
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