Horry County Drops the H-Bomb On the Pee Dee's Chances for 7th District Chair - And the 'H' Stands For Harwell .

And Just Like THAT ..... It All Goes POOF For The Pee Dee.

    Take solace Florence, in knowing that at least you got out from Jim Clyburn's district.  We have a strong feeling that 2012 will provide a little happiness for Republicans in the Pee Dee - and a little frustration.  When we talked about the 7th District convention coming up in April, all the while we noted that while the battle between Florence's Tom Grimes and Elijah Jones would be fun, the real question would be who from Horry County would get into the race.  Well, we got that answer today, and it's a pretty big name.  Debbie Harwell...


   Yes, the same Debbie Harwell who gave up on her congressional bid for the 7th just a couple months ago, citing her husband's sudden illness. Harwell, as in one of the oldest families in Flotown, which could help raise much needed funds for the party and district as well.  Yeah, there may be a question of motivation for this gig, but the cold, hard fact is Florence County just got owned... Unless the Horry contingent's cars all die on the way to West Florence High, it's inevitable.


   All over the town, there are political plans and dreams shattered into a million pieces everywhere... Where people gayly laughed and made plans for the 7th District's future in Flotown, there are burnt out corpses of humanity, with only GOP buttons left to tell their identity.. Picture the dream sequence Linda Hamilton had in the playground in Terminator 2. It's kinda like that...


    We said Horry GOP Chair Johnnie Bellamy would be working on a candidate, and boy did she.. There are rumblings about a Vice-Chair candidate as well, but we wait until things are definite before we analyze.  The big question isn't whether Harwell will win or not, the big question is what does the Pee Dee do now?


    It's not the neatest situation.  If you are from the Pee Dee, you have one choice: negotiate a nice compromise.  You have no shot at the Chair spot, but maybe the Vice-Chair is a possibility.  To us, it's slim as well.  In the Art of War, you negotitate if you are out-armed.  Is Florence out-armed?  Hell's yes!  If you are even, then fight. But, if you have an advantage, you fight and conquer.  Horry County is indeed in the catbird's seat, and they know it.  Will they be in the truce kind of mood?  We don't know.  There are many who say the Tea Party led Horry crew doesn't like to play nice, but who knows? 


   I've talked to Tom Grimes, who most of you know I work as 6th District Vice-Chair for, and he's a close friend.  Grimy knows he has some evaluating to do, and we suspect Elijah Jones does as well.  There are always ramificaions from a Top Level power change, and they always work their way down.  Tommy Phillips and Brad Richardson could see their plans change dramatically as well.  We suspect some of them will drop out, and maybe for other posts.  It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, and we think we could play a big role in working out as sweet a compromise as possible.  We'll try...


   As for Horry County, we hope they can work in good faith. More correctly and to the point, we suggest they do.  Nobody likes a bully. If the 7th District becomes just Horry County, we will not be pleased, along with a couple other noted analysts in South Carolina... And when we are pissed, we are not much fun to deal with.  Ask around....  Here's hoping that everything goes well, and that all parties involved work out a nice deal before April 21st..


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