My friends in New York - the ones who don't care about politics - always ask me why I do this for no money. Or worse - at a loss.. It's because I try to make things better, and I care. Luckily for us, we never held much of a position that would get us blame for anything. We're sure Lin Bennett does it for the saem reason, but when you work for both the County and State GOP, you're bound to get blamed for everything.
Not that it's all merited, but it's part of the job... Like we have often said, there are county parties that battle things out - and then there is Charleston County. When you have a group that large, there are bound to be subset groups that disagree on how things are run. Of course, our belief is still that if they served food first, they'd all be more agreeable... Maybe not - they'd still probably fight about what to eat! There is always a section of the GOP that thinks our own party is the problem - that we are overtaxed and government is too big. My advice is for them to come up to New York sometime. No, South Carolina is not perfect, but comparatively, it's heaven. Still, good is still not good enough for some, and they will push as hard as they can, even if they're misguided...
The first push on Bennett and the local party was the limiting of administrators on the Charleston County GOP's Facebook page. It's a common occurance, as Florence County has done the same thing. Media control is part of the party's plan, particularly during Primary time. While most commenters can be trusted, many engage in mudslinging and conduct not exactly constructive to the party. Chucktown actually put their decision up to a vote in Executive Committee, where Bennett broke a tie to avoid total freedom of comments. No, we'd like all to be able to post, but if some can't play nice, others will get punished. We've only had the Four Horsemen page up a few weeks, and there's been comments that I wished weren't on there. However, if it ended in a tie, Lin Bennett surely isn't the one to blame.
The real brouhaha this week came from a few new candidates in the area. John Steinberger and Peter von Lehe Ruegner have decided to challenge House Speaker Bobby Harrell and District 110 Rep. Chip Limehouse... Steinberger originally planned on running for Glenn McConnell's old Senate seat, but he apparently had a change of plans. Both are part of a few anti-establishment groups, such as RINO-Hunt, and FairTax advocates. That's enough for us to think they really don't what the hell they're talking about. Now of course, does that mean they can't run? Of course not. They can do whatever they wnat if they're qualified. Even von Lehe Ruegner, who is all of 22, and just graduated College of Charleston, can theoretically run.
Now, here is the problem, but one that is natural. As County Chair and State Vice-Chair, part of Bennett's job is to get as many good candidates in available spots as possible. Apparently, she felt that von Lehe Ruegner running against Limehouse - an incumbent that's been in office nearly as long as Peter's been alive - was a waste of a candidate, and she wanted to meet with him to help guide his decision(re: talk sense into him). This is something we are very familiar with. In 2004, Katon Dawson himself called me to reconsider my Congressional run, and go against John Land instead. Luckily for me, I didn't live in the District, so my decision was easy. Like kids, first time candidates are headstrong - there's no telling them anything. von Lehe Ruegner had his mind made up as well, but he decided to up the ante on Bennett....
At filing time, Peter brought a camera with him to tape the entire process. Basically, he punked Lin Bennett to show that she might do what she did before - to try to save him from himself. They all do it. It's part of their job, and somewhere on the GOP ballot, there is a spot where von Lehe Ruegner's name could have been on it. It's like going to Wild Wings and ordering a dozen 5-Pepper rated Nuclear Wings. The waitress asks you five times, 'are you SURE you want that many?' You do it anyway, because you won't learn until you eat that wing, and burn the shit out of tongue...
Steinberger and von Lehe Ruegner will perhaps get some pats on the back for taking on The Establishment - much like we speak of the valor of the soldiers from Pickett's Charge. The funny part is that they're attacking Lin Bennett for being in that establishment, but she has lead the charge against Jakie Knotts... Guess they forgot that. It only matters if you support them, not everyone. But soon, when both get waxed and all that's left is the memory, they might look back, realize that Bennett was trying to them a favor, and they'll get it. Maybe they'll even apologize, but we doubt it...
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