Picking on the Candidates - Because We Can...

Before we get to our final odds for winning on Tuesday, we figured it was a good time to take a step back, and observe how screwed up South Carolina politics are.... Rather than having it be a positive experience, where candidates are judged on their views, we prefer to knock them down, and make the Primary process a battle of attrition - where the winner is not the best, but the one who survives the onslaught.

Maybe we're joining in on the slugfest by doing this, but this is what we've been reduced to thinking about our candidates for Governor this year. When Vincent Sheheen ends up being our next one, you can thank the other camps for making whoever wins the Primary look like a piece of crap... P-Luv is already sitting at his office desk, laughing his ass off...

Andre Bauer

I found this pic on a friend's Facebook page (she's into marionettes I guess), and it freaked me out. It even matches his Senate robe, doesn't it? Andre has definitely had his share of missteps on the campaign trail. Where Bauer has tried to be viewed as the Honest One, the way you put stuff is just as important as what you're trying to say. Then there's the other baggage before the race started....

Gresham Barrett

We were first going to call him Capt. Milquetoast, but we settled on The Invisible Man. Why? Mainly because his stint in Congress produced no signs of work to point to, other than being a rubber stamp for the Bush Administration. There hasn't been much criticism coming from the other teams, except his love fest with the MB Chamber, but that's becuase he hasn't ever gotten any traction. Barrett is a Vanilla Ice Cream Cone - ZZZZZ...

Henry McMaster

Yeah, the Foghorn Leghorn pic is pretty cliche', but the truth is that this race was Henry's to lose - and he lost it. When you're up, you don't rest on your 15 point lead, and be nice - you go for the kill. McMaster's campaign was the Prevent Defense of politics - except he lost the insurmountable lead. But, blowing slam dunks is Henry's M.O.... Whether it's going 0-1 in trials as AG, or this race, Mac's penchant for playing it safe in a time when change is needed will cost him..

Nikki Haley

We thought we had a nickname for Haley when we called the Queen of Transparency 'No Show Nikki' for her attendance record..... Then IT hit. 'Darling Nikki' may yet still win the Primary, but the Democrats know that she will likely be the most vulnerable if she survives... We leaned towards Haley for a while, but she's damned close to unelectable in November..

So, that's what we've ended up with after nearly a year of attacks, slanders and bombs dropped by candidates in their own party... We thought last year that we had a real good slate of people to choose from, but in SC, that can get whittled down pretty quick, can't it? The Democrats seemed to have figured out not to attack a fellow party member - even if it's Robert Ford, who's screaming for criticism. That lesson might be learned in November....

.