Tom and Wrenzie Rice Come to Bazen's To Shake Hands, But the Rumored Jordan Endorsement Hasn't Materialized - Not Quite Yet...
And that's why they call them rumors... With just eight days left until the 7th District runoff between Tom Rice and Andre Bauer, Florence takes it's place onstage the next two days, as both candidates come to Bazen's Restaurant on consecutive days. It's pretty cool, because it gives us a bit of an indication of the support each has in up for grabs Flotown and the Pee Dee.. Same location, same time of day, only 24 hours apart. It doesn't get much more equal footing than that...
Of course, there was one 900 pound gorilla hanging over today's Rice event: would Jay Jordan be there, and would be endorsing Rice and advising his 21% from the runoff to vote for the Horry County Council Chair? The answer to that today was no and no - or at least not yet... We try not to take up too much time of the candidates when their primary purpose is to meet as many new voters as possible, so we said hi and quickly asked the big question: Do we have any big news to report today? Rice smiled and said 'We're working on it.' Easy enough, and we appreciate the honesty, knowing it'll be online in a couple hours...
Time is short before the runoff, so we're not sure what ends need to be tied to get a Jordan endorsement. It all depends on what Jay Jordan is asking for, if anything, or if he even wants to get involved in this. If he does, the playing field does tilt towards Rice in a big way - but will it come? Endorsing is a risky move... You pick the loser, and the winner is none too happy - and they remember it. You pick the winner, and you just became Kingmaker for a day... So far, Jordan has not rolled the dice..
With the big buzz quickly gone at least for today, it became a standard meet & greet. These things are hard to measure, because not everyone there came to meet Rice, but some did. There were probably close to 50 supporters and party people there, and a decent morning breakfast crowd of new potential voters. Most of those involved in the party are smartly staying non-committal, so we're not going to name names.
Former candidate Randal Wallace met up with Renee Knight Woodberry, and as usual, Randal and I got into a half-hour friendly discussion on his campaign, the race, and stuff in general. We feel bad for taking up his time at every event we see him, but he's just a great guy to chat with on the trail....
Overall, it was pretty standard fare. When you're expecting a game-changing event to possibly occur, and it doesn't, you might feel a slight amount of disappointment. But, like we said, it does make for an real fair comparison to gauge which campaign has the juice in wide-open Florence. To be continued tomorrow I guess!
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It's not that often that we promote civic events going on in town, and there's a good reason for it - NO ONE ever tells or asks us to do it! Yeah, we're a political blog mainly, but we love doing things that help others in the area as well. Honestly, we don't get directly involved in things too often, but we are more than happy to use our pulpit to advance others who frankly are better people than us... Today, that goes to First Presbyterian Church in Florence for their 2nd Annual City Project.
Some might think that because we don't go to church every Sunday or Wednesday, that we have a problem with religion. Nothing could be further from the truth.... We believe in God, and talk to him all the time, and give him credit for all that is good in the world. We just haven't quite connected with a church we guess. But, almost every church we've run into does a lot of very good work in the community. Not to get political again, but church involvement in community issues is perhaps the most effective way of fixing problems that affect our towns. As far as bang for the buck, it's the best way - and we doubt few will disagree...
First Presbyterian's City Project is a great example. For two weeks, from July 8-21, they are focusing on making a real impact on the neediest in Florence: the poor, homeless, indigent, community givers and Seniors. They have all sorts of events planned, and they need volunteers to assist in any or all of them. In short, whatever you want to do to help, you can. Feeding the homeless, preparing FoodPacks for needy families, blood drives, having a cookout for police, or even doing home repairs for those who can't - and more!
So, you're not a Presbyterian? Our guess is they don't care... If we can work with Democrats, I'm sure Presbyterians and Baptists can work side by side. For once, we're going to make things real easy for you. Here is the website for the City Project.... Simply log on, check out list of events, and register to help... Easy Cheesy!
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5tqpb9xff574099&llr=kn488ncab
Maybe you'll even see us at one of the events. Our advice is to sign up and do something that not only helps others, but it'll make you feel good too! Besides, I think the last time we posted a community event was 2007, so take advantage of our civic mindedness while you can. It doesn't happen often!
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And we'll take a moment to wish all you Dad's out there a happy Father's Day... It took on a bit of a special meaning as my good friends Chris and Paige Alexander baptised their second child, John Joseph, today at First Presbyterian Church in Flotown.. It was nice to get back to church after my First Baptist disaster back in 2006. For us, Father's Day is a bit of a melancholy day... First off, we've had our issues in the past with dad since we were born. Yes, I'm a 100% Momma's Boy... Things have been a lot better, but he moved back to town last week, and the stress of the move has made him very paranoid and short-tempered. Normally I'd call, but I could tell he was mad at me when I visited a couple days ago, so I've learned to give him time... He's a Reino - when he wants something, he'll call me up!
The other obvious point is that we aren't a dad, and pretty much everyone we know has kids... Being a month away from 44, it's pretty certain that I'm not going to ever be a Pop. Yeah, it's physically possible, but now I realize why my dad, who was my exact age now when I was born, didn't seem too motivated to play or be a father in the normal sense. Being single may seem envious to a lot you, but while at church today, I got to see so many families enjoying the little things with each other. It doesn't always hit you - a lot of times you're too busy to think about it - but it seems on the big events and holidays, it slaps you in the face, and most married people don't really get it..
So, to those of you who are Dad's, or have a good Dad, we'll ask a favor of you: be the best dad you can, or thank your good Dad for doing such a great job, because not everyone is that lucky. Some don't even have fathers - don't think we don't realize that. Everytime you feel bad for yourself, there's someone who always has it worse.. May you enjoy the presence of your legacy today, may you feel loved and appreciated.... and may you NOT get an ugly tie!
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Welcome to the usual Sunday lineup.. The problem with Friday news is that it doesn't make the cutoff for the cartoonists - there's always a delay. So, this week's cartoons have more to do with last week than this week. Not that anything interesting happened anyway.. We like this one because it incorporates two parts of Barack Obama's 'Worst Week Ever' - the top level security leaks, and the crappy jobs report. The good news for him? Weeks that bad usually get slightly better...
Wait, we forgot the cherry on top of Obama's bad week.... NYC Mayor Ed Koch used to famously ask 'How am I doing?' all the time.. Our guess is Obama may wait on passing rosy judgements on the economy for a bit...
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With Meet & Greet's Set For Both GOP Candidates on Consecutive Days, Eggs and Grits and Politics Makes For a Winning Combination...
First off, we gotta tell you that the rumor may be true about Jay Jordan endorsing Tom Rice could be true... Why? Because we took a quick stop at Walgreen's, and was grabbed by someone and asked about it... No, they hadn't read the blog (who does?), they heard what may quickly be becoming the worst kept secret in town.. We'll find out Monday.
With the word out now that Andre Bauer will be in Florence as well on Tuesday, there can only be one conclusion - Bazen's Family Restaurant is the Center of the Universe - at least as far as Florence politics goes... For those of you who know GOP politics, you already know Bazen's is a must go to for any campaigns looking to get votes in the Pee Dee.
Is Bauer's Tuesday event a counterpunch to Rice's supposed endorsement? Maybe. It might minimize a Jordan siding with Rice to a degree. Our guess is it's more of a statement by Bauer that he will fight Rice and not concede any area in the district to him.... That's Andre in a nutshell. Since endorsements have seemingly had little to no impact on votes this year (ex- Nikki Haley, et al), we can't make any decision that this will definitely change things. All we can ascertain is that Bazen's Family Restaurant rules Planet Earth - at least for 48 hours!
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Excuse Us As We Engage in Totally Unfounded Clap-Trap !!!
It's Saturday, so the workload is light today. Ben came sort-of unexpectedly this morning from Pennsylvania (we thought he said 26th, but it was the 16th). We swore at 715 this morning we were about to battle a raccoon the size of a bear in our garage, but it turned out to be him... Lucky us, because the only weapon we have is an alumninum bat in the garage, so we probably wouldn't have gotten to it...
Anyway, since it's Saturday, and you're probably not reading blogs on such a beautiful day, we'll just engage in word of mouth rumormongering! Yes, we don't mind spreading 'guess what we heard's . The only difference is while other blogs spread things like these as facts, we fully admit we having NOTHING to back it up. We don't bother candidates of 'party insiders' to confirm things - we just state it to be exactly what it is - a rumor. A nice, fat, juicy rumor!
What is it? The poop that former 7th District candidate Jay Jordan of Florence is going to be endorsing - and hopefully taking his 21% of the Primary votes - second place finisher Tom Rice on Monday. Like we said, all we had was word of mouth yesterday, but a tidbit of news certainly didn't dampen that rumor today. It seems that Rice will be at a meet & greet at Bazen's Restaurant - a solid GOP hangout - on Monday morning from 8-10am... So, this is the rumor, and now we have confirmation that Rice will be in Flotown at that time.. Good enough for us to spread the rumor. True? Who knows, and who cares?
It does make sense. There is no way Bible-thumpers like Jordan's crowd at Florence Baptist Temple would go for Andre Bauer. After all, he's in his forties, well-dressed, neat, handsome - and single. You get the assumed drift from there. Since we're on that rumor drift, we might as well be honest about the train of thought.... I drove my sister (she's gay) past it on the way to Zaxby's, and she uttered 'I don't suppose I would be too welcome here on Sunday mornings'. Maybe, but doubtful..
Of course, how much effect it has on the race is up for debate, but it does make it interesting - and it's always good for a sweet rumor or two!
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Federal Reserve Study Shows That Median Net Worth of Americans Dropped 38% Between 2007-2010 - Not That You Needed the Money.
Just in case you were ever wondering why the news media makes such a big deal out of home sales and prices, now you know. We often take home ownership for granted... We buy the place, make payments and pretty much forget about it. In today's economy, that's a dangerous game plan. Why? Because homes are for most of us the majority of our net worth... And this week's study by the Federal Reserve made you likely want to puke.
The study gave us a long-term idea of just how bad the housing bubble, along with the resulting stock market drop hit Americans. On average, the median net worth of citizens dropped over 38% from the year before the bubble completely burst, and two years afterwards. If you need any solid reason for why the economy is stalled in neutral for almost four years, there is your answer - we have no equity.
Luckily for us, at least the stock market gained back most of the 35% on average that it lost in late 2008 and early 2009. That was good news for those with 401k's and older Americans. For people in my age bracket (35-44), the bubble had an even more devastating effect on it, because for many of us, the house was the only thing we had equity in - emphasis on HAD... On average, we lost 50%. Is it any wonder why people in Generation X can't stand DC? We have no jobs, no equity, rising costs for everything, and likely a hacked off retirement we've been paying for for 20 years. Thanks Washington, F**k You too...
We think most of you get the idea of how it's all tied in, but for those of you in Allendale, we'll review the cycle of woe... There are too many houses built, and still too many others for sale. Supply vs. Demand states that the prices will have to drop, and therefore the equity built up in your house just dropped. Millions lose their jobs, and the ONLY way for it to recover is for consumers to have more available income to buy things, and create new jobs. So, if you no longer have equity, you can't borrow money - especially in these tighter credit times. No one can buy anything, so the economy stalls. Simple enough.
This was absolutely true for us. We had about $500 net worth in 2007, and it's down to about $250 now... And since we lost our job, we can't refinance the 6.38% mortgage on the house, we're blowing an extra $300 a month that we could be saving. Yes, it's a vicious cycle, and it's going on all over America...
When you have numbers like this slapping you in the face, it's not hard to understand why our economy is stuck in neutral - and until something breaks, it's likely to stay that way. That's why we're waiting for the housing market to pick back up - to create jobs, but just as importantly, to clear out the glut of available houses, which raise prices - and makes every American home owner's Net Worth go up... Don't hold your breath for it just yet - maybe just pray.....
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"WHO Won the 7th District Democratic Primary ??!! With How Much of the Vote?? "....... Poot Cries Foul to Replace One Form of Sure Defeat With Another.
Yeah, it's been two days since Primary Day, but we've been under the weather, so better late than never. Besides, sometimes it's better to wait a day to analyze a situation than to jump in and make predictions early - especially when it's concerning Democrats... We follow them about as much as we follow the NBA.
First things first.... We would like your opinion on what to call SC Democratic Party Chair Dick Harpootlian. I read where Bill Pickle called him Hardpoot.... Not bad, but we're picky on these things, and there's no 'D' in his name, so we thought of a couple others. Here's our suggestions:
Poot
Pooter
Harpootliar
Hardy Har Harpootlian
Feel free to submit a suggestion.... Now, onto Tuesday's big surprise - the big win from Gloria Bromell-Tinubu.. It just rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? When every media outlet can't seem to spell or pronounce your name correctly, you have a problem - we should know. Despite getting the backing of nearly every current and Dead Wood Democrat in South Carolina (they did forget to ask Fritz Hollings), Preston Brittain wasn't able to keep Tinubu from getting to 50%, much less winning, on Tuesday. Or did he? It all depends on who you listen to...
It all depends on how the 2200 votes that various idiots from across the 7th gave to Ted Vick - who dropped out weeks ago - are dealt with. We do find it a bit ironic that Florence County stated at last week's court hearing that they could correct the ballots in one week, but this month old error wasn't fixed... Uhhh, does anyone have an answer. We again go back to that wonderful thing called hindsight, and say 'Gee, if they corrected the ballot, it'd be a moot issue'...
Vick's 2200 votes ended up being almost nine percent of the vote - and changed the victory margin from 52-39 Tinubu to 49-36 , or vice versa, whichever way you prefer to look at it.... Well, Harpootlian went immediately to the warpath, and contested the SC Elections Commission's view that the votes were null, and Tinubu will not need to face Brittain in a runoff. To say that his crying foul comes off as being 'insensitive' to African-American voters is obvious.
You see, as much as we like to think race doesn't play a part in who people support or vote for, it is still a part of it all. Republicans are viewed by many minorities as not caring about them at all, which may be true in some cases, but not as an absolute. However, Democrats aren't much better. In very few cases are there white Democrats who have truly shown that they don't just take that black vote for granted. In South Carolina, that battle still goes in, even within the party in contested races.
On paper, Tinubu would seem to have the better resume - the bag full of carpeting not withstanding: she has previous legislative experience, and her specialty was in Economics - though we fear it is in Keynesian Policy. Yet Brittain got all the endorsements , except for the AFL-CIO nod. Still, in the Democratic Party, minorities rule the roost, especially in the 6th and 7th. The BVAP in the 7th overall is 27.6%, so in the Democratic Party, it has to be a solid majority. Winning a contested primary there without winning the black vote is almost impossible... Tinubu held serve, and won.
Now, the big question is not what does Pooter want to do, but what does Preston Brittain want to do? On the surface, it seems like a lost cause.. Even at it's worst, she got 49%. To win, he'd have to change some minds, and get some people to show up on the 26th that didn't on Tuesday. As poorly attended as the Primary was, that'd be the better chance.. But is that what Brittain wants to do? We're not sure, but we'd skip if we were him...
First off, his chances are slim. This is the first example where someone got over 50% of votes cast, and STILL is getting challenged. Add to that, the extra cost of running a second campaign for the runoff that he will most likely lose, and both he and Tinubu will have nothing left to run against Tom Rice or Andre Bauer... He probably should take one for the team. Brittain is young, and he doesn't need to ruin his reputation inside the party by joining Poot as a bad loser. He might be the better November candidate, but if he can't get past June, he shouldn't be on the ballot.
Like most issues involving voting law, we're not sure what rule will decide this. Our guess is if the Elections Commission said beforehand that Vick votes are null and void, then Tinubu will be declared the winner. If not, then we may have a runoff on both sides. We'll sound partisan here, but the bigger winner out of this will be the Republican runoff winner.. Yeah, he'll be broke too, but the GOP isn't in disarray within itself - at least not over this race. Bauer or Rice will be running against a candidate that will not get any crossover votes, or one that could piss off the entire African-American section of their party by stealing the runoff that maybe shouldn't have been...
The biggets loser of this, of course, is Harpootliar... Rather than sit back for a day, and make a bunch of phone calls, he decided that HE was the Democratic Party, and protested by sunrise.. Nice job, Komrade Hotpooperscooper!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsYJyVEUaC4
Editor's Note: We corrected the BVAP overall, which we had at 37%, to 27.6%. Thanks to John Demetre for the info. However, in the Democratic dominated Pee Dee counties, it is 37% or more in all of them..
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Just a quick note to wish you all a happy Flag Day today... As you can see, Old Glory is flying proudly from the front porch - just like it does every day. You still have a few hours of daylight to get it out there in case you forgot. While almost all other holidays are for a person or group of persons, only Flag Day and Independence Day celebrate America itself. The difference is the Fourth of July has been replaced with barbecues and fireworks, whereas Flag Day is still about our national symbol...
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Like we said, Round One is just survive and advance in this race. To no one's surprise, former Lt. Governor Andre Bauer finished first in the Republican Primary for the 7th Congressional District with 32% of the vote. In what was the real battle, Horry County Council Chair Tom Rice held off a late rally from Florence's Jay Jordan, and took the important second spot with 27%. Jordan, who didn't seem to dominate the early Pee Dee voting as much as may have been expected, finished third with 22%. Chad Prosser finished a distant fourth at 10%...
Now, Round Two begins.... While we think a Bauer-Jordan matchup would have been more favorable for Bauer, a final against Rice isn't bad either. Jordan's 22% are the key people both will go after, and Bauer does have a better shot at them on the surface. He made a smart move by complimenting Jordan's campaign on air this morning. Now, whether it will work out is another thing..
Like most close third place finishers, Jordan suddenly sits in the temporary kingmaker seat. Whether or not he takes advantage of it remains to be seen... Rice didn't poll very well from the Pee Dee from what we saw in early voting, whereas Bauer has been getting votes from here for over a decade. However, Jordan's Uber-Christian stance isn't exactly a match made in Heaven (pun intended) for Bauer. A Rice endorsement could be coming, but who knows about that, and if it does come, will voters follow..... or make up their own minds. Time will tell - June 26th.
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We Get Back From New York Just in Time To See the Candidates In Their Last Minute Push Before Primary Day....
Sorry everybody.... We made it back to South Carolina today. No late night accidents on the way back unfortunately. Although we could use some sleep, we're raring to go and raise some hell again! Or maybe just report what happened. After all, we're not THAT ready....
Yep, we made it in at 930 this morning after a smooth 10 1/2 hour ride from Long Island - just in time to stop by Andre Bauer's meet and greet. In this last day of campaigning, Bauer made a day of it in Flotown. He did his usual sign wave at Five Points, then checked in at Bill Pickle's radio show from Schofield's before having a lunch meet and greet at New York Butcher Shoppe on Hoffmeyer Rd, which is where we caught up with him.....
For such a small plce, it was pretty well attended. We got there late, and there were still 20 people there, which is standing room only... There were a few familiar faces there, but you never know if they're just stopping by, or are actual supporters, so for once, we'll skip names. I did speak to Pickle for a decent amount of time about the race ,how the candidates were faring, and all the calls he got on his radio show today, which we caught from Lumberton to Flotown. For all the critiquing we've done at Bill, he does take it all in stride and sees it how we mean it - as our way of making the party better...
No, the banner behind them is for the butcher, not Andre - although he hopes to grind the other candidates into fine ground meat! It's the likely frontrunner with 'Grumpy' Bill Pickle!
I managed to talk Bill into being in the picture, as long as I promised that I mentioned he is staying neutral in the 7th District race. We don't want to start any trouble here. Speaking of trouble, for seven of the nine candidates, it all ends tomorrow. With a field this loaded, anyone getting 50% of the vote is an impossibility, so tomorrow is just like Jim Valvano used to do the NCAA Tournament - just survive and advance. Once we have the final two, then you strategize for June 26th...
Needless to say, we can never stay away from predictions, so who will the Top Two be? The first is pretty easy... Andre bauer has been in first in every poll taken from start to finish. Maybe not by a ton, but he's been in the low to mid 30's from all the internal polls. The big question is who gets the second golden ticket, Charlie Bucket? It's pretty much a 3 man race between Chad Prosser, Tom Rice and Jay Jordan. So, what do we think???
In races like these, we tend to go with the one trending up as the election nears. That doesn't appear to be Rice. He's been up there, but when you lack the external fire to jack up the voters, you don't get much of a groundswell. Chad Prosser did take the Elephant Stampede in Myrtle Beach this weekend, but we have a rule - Straw Polls don't mean jack, and never will. He seems to be trending upward, but not as fast as Jay Jordan...
No, we don't mix our religion and politics, but a lot of people in Florence do, and the race is all about finding a niche and distinguishing yourself from the rest of the field. It's not our cup of tea, but Jay Jordan, with the Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other - along with a ton of cash from Florence Baptist Temple for mailers - seems to have caught fire in the Pee Dee, along with some movement in the Grand Strand. Not a ton, but enough to place second and advance? We think so.....
Yeah, it helps being the only candidate who currently lives in the Pee Dee. We thought there was an outside chance that Katherine Jenerette could make a move if she got a concerted block of female votes, but that hasn't seemed to occur. Obviously, tomorrow will be determined by who gets the vote out. Rice, Prosser and Jordan are going to be tight, and if there is one thing the Florence GOP does well, it's getting these rabid supporters to the polls...
Bauer 30%, Jordan 22%, Rice 19%, Prosser 14%, Jenerette 6%, Wallace 5%, Withington 2%, Mader 1%, Culler 1%....
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It's a busy weekend for us, so we're probably just going to put up the usual couple Sunday standard posts here for you. Tonight, we finally return to South Carolina - just in time for Primary Day. In case you were wondering, The Belmont was fun, although I lost my betting touch in the worst way until the actual Stakes race. Yes, I got Union Rags right, and I picked the winner and exacta in the last race, so all totaled, we lost about $50 at the gate - double that amount when you include parking, entry and the $5 waters, Cokes and Hot Dogs....
Back to the toons.. Scott Walker obviously was a big part of them, but we talked about that earlier, so we'll skip those. Yeah, Unions are in trouble... Aside from that, drones were a big part of the political cartoon world. It seems everyone has them now, but Barack Obama gets to use his the most. Are you sure that isn't just a souped up Air Hog??
And in 'the one that got away' department, we somehow forgot to blog about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanting to limit the size of large sugared drinks and sodas... Yes, you can have all the aspartame you want until you get brain cancer, but high fructose corn syrup is evil...
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Miles and Miles Of Desolate Wasteland That Once Used to Be..... Candidacies. We Tell You Who to Blame and How Much.
Alright... it's Friday afternoon, the weekend is coming, we all have our schedules filled with things to do. After this crazy week in politics, we're all sure that even though there are only 4 days until the Primary, everyone could use a day or two without thinking about things - especially the Ballot Fiasco.
Problem is, there are a lot of voters who don't live and die politics like we do, but are still concerned over exactly what happened the past five weeks and why... We've been closely watching this since the beginning, but at the same time, we are not involved in any campaign, nor do we hold any office in the GOP to blind us or cause us to BS you about who should shoulder some blame in this... In short, we're the perfect people to pass judgement on everyone else! Call it that if you feel the need, but we'll live..
In our assessment, we find fault with eight different groups/individuals that should feel some degree of responsibility with Ballotgate 2012. We're listing them here in our view in rank of responsibility, from first to last. In short, we feel it was a monumental error by one organization, which was followed by a lack of followup by a number of groups. In addition, we have three of these seven groups either acted or failed to react to the situation improperly, thus causing further damage or failure to remedy the mess. If you're ready, here we go.....
1. The SC Ethics Commission
While some would like to blame the Legislature for the law itself, the law is what it is, and it's stated pretty clearly that you file electronically, but make a paper copy at the time of filing. We might not have agreed with Chad Connelly's assessment yesterday, but he was right about one thing: the SC Ethics Commission gave completely incorrect directions as to how candidates and parties were to file. They said no paper copy was needed, and that electronically could be done beforehand. Wrong and wrong.. We will get to personal responsibility very shortly, but as far as the Big F**kuparoo, the people have a lot of explaining to do...
2. Jakie Knotts
We'll be damned if almost didn't blame Jakie for a good chunk of this. After all, if you're playing Jenga, how can you NOT blame the guy who pulled the tile that dropped the whole structure? No, it wasn't his intention to take out 240 candidates - just Katrina Shealy. Well, in the lovely world of unintended consequences, Jakie stepped in a huge pile of crap... Shealy and her herd of rabid supporters are going full bore to get her on the ballot anyway, so in the end, Knotts may have made himself the Pariah Carey of the GOP by starting the legal mess. Nice going, Hoghead!
3. SCGOP/SCDP
The next couple of groups fell right in line. We know, we know... They were only following orders given by the SC Ethics Commission. That didn't work well for the Nazi's in 1945, and we're not going to accept that as an excuse for full clearance from blame this time either. It's called confirmation, and both parties blew it, which begat.....
4. County Parties
Easy enough... Top level management gets bad info, doesn't check it, and passes it right onto mid-level management. Case closed. Kudos to the couple Chairs who seemed to actually take the time to read the rule before filing day. Too bad there weren't more...
5. The Candidates
Yes, the mantra 'If they can't do paperwork right, how can they legislate properly' is pretty good. In most cases, the candidate is the lower level employee, so again, they just do what the party tells them. However, we can speak from personal experience on this. We've filed both Federal and State economic forms. How? We went on the websites and did it. Granted, it was before electronic filing, but going straight to the source makes life easy..
6. Florence County GOP
Yes, you can thank the last 39 lost candidates to the FCGOP. Though they will still repeat the same reasons they gave to the Supreme Court until they're blue in the face, they purposely pushed through their entire slate of candidates, which the Florence Democrats say they were told wouldn't happen once the initial Supreme Court ruling came out. Then, their last 'clarification' apparently ticked the Court off so bad, anyone with an existing SEI from a current, yet different office was not deemed good enough, which took out 38 Republicans, but only 1 Democrat. Oops! We've been checking to see which candidates in Florence that new rule affected, but the FCGOP hasn't seemed to put out a list yet - or much of anything else this week. Silence is golden...
7. The South Carolina House and Senate
Yes, they could have easily stopped this by changing the existing law, and allowed all of the candidates to get back on the ballot, with time to spare. Instead, they haggled, stalled or sat on their hands a couple weeks ago. If Greg Ryberg was telling the truth, and guys were high-fiving once the bill was killed, then we need names and wipe those a-holes out of Columbia. It will have to wait til 2016, but we have long memories. Still, aside from mistakenly not pointing out specifically whether a paper copy should be needed in the 2010 law, the Legislature didn't cause these people to get kicked off the ballot - they just didn't get them back on. Worthy of blame? Absolutely. Worthy of a lion's share of it? Not to us. They screw up enough, but this wasn't their all their fault..
8. The South Carolina Supreme Court
Gripe all you want about them, but the real truth is, they didn't make the law, misread the law or start this. All they did was interpret the law as is their job. No, Jakie Knotts' diaper changers didn't ask about the paper copy of the SEI, but The Court's job is to intrepret the entirety of a law, and that's what they did. BTW, they did it absolutely right in the first round that knocked out 200. No paper copy, no certification means just that. As far as the 'clarification' point that kicked out the last 39, we have some issue with that, which is why they made it on the list. The FCGOP made it ahead of them, because if they didn't ask again, we probably wouldn't have gotten an answer - again. Most economic interest forms at the local and state levels are the same, and both sides seem to agree on that, otherwise we likely would not even have them on this. It wasn't a conspiracy by Jean Toal, et al to knock out as many Republicans as possible, so pack up the Tin Foil Hat and pack it away for the next kook festival..
Between these eight, you could just about assess 99.999999% of the blame for Ballotgate 2012. The rest you could blame on the media, bloggers, or maybe God - but we'd pass on that. The bad news is that Primary 2012 is much like the fallout picture of Hiroshima above - a barren wasteland of a ballot, with nothing left. The good news is that we ALL are aware of the problem now, and we can fix it, either in the Legislature, or just reading the rule book, rather than taking So and So's word for it. And it will live in infamy... Fifteen years from now, some kid will be running for office, and we'll be asking 'Did you print your SEI??'. They'll ask why, and we'll reminisce about the Great Ballotgate of 2012.. And they'll look at us like newcomers look today when they talk about Operation Lost Trust or ABSCAM...
Editor's Note: In the interest of full disclosure, we incorrectly listed Marci Andino as the head of the SC Ethics Commission. She is the head of the SC Elections Commission. We thank her in advance for not suing us, and to Nancy Cave for pointing out the error.. The listed Director of the Ethics Commission is Herbert Hayden. Never heard of the man, but it's odd it hasn't come up, in light of the Ethics Commission's obvious error in it's directions to the state parties..
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Kentucky Derby, Preakness Winner Drops Out of The Belmont Stakes...
This is why it's not so easy to winner the Triple Crown. Just one day before the Belmont Stakes, the chance at immortality - and a $5 Million bonus - word just came out that I'll Have Another has been scratched. The press conference is scheduled for 100PM, but we're going out to lunch with our friend Christina (aka TND - Tattooed Nissan Driver), so we'll have to catch it on the radio. So far, it's being described only as a 'hind leg problem'..
Horse Racing is a fragile and risky business. Unlike other sports, so many things have to go right for a horse to win the Triple Crown. Fragile is the best word for it. You have an 1100 pound animal who is all muscle and speed - except for the ankles, legs and bones that are no bigger than a human's. It doesn't take much for a horse to get injured. A stray kick. A bad step. Bumping into anything. And of course, racing with a dozen other, equal sized horses at 40 MPH... Last week for the first time, I saw a horse get euthanized on the track after the last race. Word is, she was running, and just flat out died. It happens. Horses just love to run, and they don't know the dangers...
We'll find out what it was that took I'll Have Another out, but it must be relatively serious. It's a judgement call. If he won tomorrow, he's got $6 million extra in purses - and a lifetime of stud fees totalling many times over that. But if he lost, most of that goes out the window. He'd still get lots of cash for stud fees, but likely about 10 times less. Whatever it was, it was enough to jeopardize winning tomorrow, so his owners are going the safe route - and leaving all of us to wonder 'what if'... That part sucks, but the good new for us is that all the fair weather fans will likely stay home tomorrow, and we might actually have somewhere to sit! See? Every bad story has a silver lining somewhere.....
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SC6 Gives the Ex-SC2 The Nod In a Full, But Not Quite as Skilled Field...
For those of you who follow us on Facebook, you are already aware of this, but with only 5 days to go until the big June 12th Primary, we are making it official - Andre Bauer has earned the SC6 Kiss of Death !
No, we don't always go with the frontrunner in a race. In fact, it's pretty rare, which is why we have a history for endorsing - you might may - 'also-rans' in these things. Anyone remember Jon Huntsman or Rudy Giuliani? We kind of pick the same way in Horse Racing, but our winning percentage is much higher there. For once, we think the best guy is leading the field...
Like most of you, we didn't know a lot of the candidates when the race started. Andre Bauer was one of the few that we did know - and we weren't enthused about him running in the 7th either. Look back in our posts.. I don't think we used the C word, but we kept our options open. While there were some good candidates that ran for this seat (any one of five or six of these people would make a good Congressman), Andre Bauer showed us why he went in as the guy to beat, and kept it all the way through..
While, may people don't ascribe to debating as an important need for a good Congressman, we disagree.. In Washington, you don't get a lot of time in front of the cameras or in open discussions on issues, so when you do, you need to be sharp. Not debating well being irrelevant is like saying a horse is great because he runs good in warmups.. Bauer is by far the most polished and tested candidate in the field.
We learned a lot of other things at that debate. We all knew how hard Andre works as a candidate, but the decade or so of experience in Columbia and statewide has given him an understanding that the others lacked. It was obvious when the candidates asked what ideas did they have for the 'other side' of their District. Bauer was the only one who had a SPECIFIC answer. That is what excites us - not the hyperbole, but someone with an actual plan with specific ideas to implement!
Yes, there are the questions about judgement and maturity that still hound him from the past, though it has quieted over the past couple years. Andre Bauer is not a kid anymore, and we think the grownup , mature Andre Bauer will be the one that goes to DC. If not, it will be a short one term, because the 7th has plenty of people lined up to take his place..
This is a pretty historic time for the Pee Dee and Grand Strand.. We have our own Congressman - finally! Who we send up there says as much about us as it says about the candidate. We're not one of those people who wears every candidate's sticker on their lapel - we leave it empty until we can actually say 'I support this candidate'...While there are some good choices in the field, the others have stances that worry us as far as being for the people, rather than special interests, some with gaps in their resume, and a couple that aren't quite ready for Washington. We need our first Congressman to be sharp, solid, tough and a hard worker. Someone who won't just be happy to be in DC - but one who says 'I'm from South Carolina, dammit! Take notice...' Andre Bauer is that man, and we think he deserves your first vote on June 12th, and if not, then your second vote on June 26th....
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'Can You Guys Tell Me What Color This Tie I'm Wearing Is, Because I Haven't Got a Clue - Blue? Red?
Time for one of those lighter side of politics stories. When you grow up the first generation American of Cuban immigrants, it's easy to claim that you're blind to color... Marco Rubio can actually claim that - whether it's true relative to ethnicity and cultures, we're not 100%. But, when it comes to colorblindness in the real sense, he's legit...
Yep, according to an article in The Hill, the Florida Senator and possible Vice-Presidential choice is colorblind. He was being interviewed by ITK recently, when he was asked about Orlando landing the Number Four spot of the worst dressed people in America (with a billion toursists and everyone dressed like Mickey Mouse, what did you expect?). Rubio smartly avoided the question, and they then asked about his choices in suits and ties, and he admitted that he is colorblind, which a staffer later grudgingly confirmed. That could cause a problem in the General Election if Rubio can't tell the Red States from the Blue ones on the map, so we assume he'll keep checking the Electoral College instead...
No, colorblindness is not an uncommon malady... About 8% of men have some varying degree of colorblindness. In fact, it's not even that rare in politics. We didn't know this, but in 1996, BOTH Bill Clinton and Bob Dole requested a special light during their debates, because they both had a green-red colorblindness problem! That explains a lot, becuase the Dole campaign seemed in STOP mode all along...
So, how does Rubio work around his problem? Like most men do - he lets his wife pick out the clothes, though choosing the navy blue suit with the white shirt and red tie can hardly be considered challenging. He better hope that they get along OK, or else he might end up on stage looking like Rip Taylor one of these days!
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SC Supreme Court Follows Up FCGOP Appeal With a Blow That Will Knock Out Even More Candidates Than We First Thought...
Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse for the FCGOP, it just did... After yesterday's legal thumping for certifying candidates incorrectly, the Florence County Republican Party asked for a clarification today on one point. Basically, it asked not about the challengers who incorrectly filed their SEI's, but about the candidates who had filed SEI's previously for other offices, but were running for a new office. Seems like a pertinent question to ask - and they got an answer, alright!
Folks, this is huge - even bigger than yesterday's ruling.... The Supreme Court refused consideration to clarify in regards to previously filed SEI's. They in effect ruled that unless a new SEI was filed at the time of candidacy for the new office, that candidate is uncertified as well, and cannot be on the ballot. Whereas yesterday's ruling affected Florence County mostly, and sent a warning to other counties, today's ruling affects other challengers all over the state - namely, anyone that current holds an office, but it running for another one. Once we get a copy of the ruling, we'll post it. Clearly, it is not a good year to be running for a new office...
Offhand, we can think of several people this affects: in Florence, Robby Hill, Steve Powers, Ed Robinson and Willard Dorriety could be very well gone. In Clarendon, State Rep. Kevin Johnson (D-Manning) is a likely victim. We're sure there will be others across the state now that thought they were safe yesterday, and all because of this lawsuit. If the FCGOP lost some friends before, they're likely to lose a few more now...
There are people on both sides now that aren't sure that this ruling is fair, and we see their point... The question is, if they already have an SEI on file, why would they need to file another? Our only guess is that since different offices have different conflicts of interest, the Court felt a renewed SEI should be filed. OK, we can sort of see that. But, in some cases that might not apply well. In Steve Powers and Ed Robinson's case, they are already on Florence City Council, so there really wouldn't be any different conflicts between a Mayor and a City Council seat , would there? In case you missed it, we just defended Steve Powers and Ed Robinson - so get off our case already!
We often talk about unintended consequences... How one action creates other actions not foreseen. The FCGOP is learning that in full effect. Had they not disregarded the Supreme Court ruling the first time, they would have some of these candidates on the ballot. Now many of them will likely be gone. Instead of saying 'Thank You' and moving on, they tried to box out of their weight class - and got cold cocked by a punch they never saw coming. Too bad they just got knocked out, kicked in the goodies, and had their cornerman, trainer and promoter flattened as well.. Stubborness will do that to you sometimes.
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Pound It, Wisconsin ...... POUND IT, BABY !!!!!
Just about everything has gone around on yesterday's recall win for Scott Walker as Governor of Wisconsin. Before everyone gets overexcited or super depressed over yesterday's ballot, we need to really examine what happened. To us, there are a few points to be made. Let's get right to them...
Number One: Don't Recall Candidates Because You Don't Like Them
The main reason Scott Walker won and the Dems lost is because they tried to recall him for political reasons - and ordinary voters don't go for that. No, we didn't think that eliminating collective bargainig with Unions is a fair practice, and we mentioned that last year. But it hasn't ruined Wisconsin, and most importantly, it wasn't a treasonous act against the state's interests. We weren't for recalling Mark Sanford, and even we will admit the case against him was way worse than anything Scott Walker. This isn't a death knell for Unions, but they ahve made themselves out to be a bunch of vindictive assholes...
Number Two: Walker Has Some Mending to Do Anyway
Like we said, this wasn't a vote for or against Scott Walker as Governor, but slightly more whether he deserves recall - and a nine point win is not a solid mandate. He's got 2 1/2 years left, and he needs to continue reforming Wisconsin - but a little less hardball would help.
This Does Not Make Wisconsin a Red State Yet
Yes, Walker's win is good news for Republicans, but there are a few facts we need to consider before claiming the Badger State for us. First off, this was an in-state race, where Walker was the favorite all along. And in Purple States, Barack Obama always outpolls the local Democratic candidates. Annoying as it is, he has that damned 'likeability' factor. Moderate voters don't hate him, and even if they disagree, they root for him in a way other Dems don't. The latest poll still has Obama up 52-43%. And this is at the peak for Wisconsin Republicans. They last voted GOP for Ronald Reagan - 28 years ago. If the economy sputters some more, a Rust Belt state like them could swing, but it isn't there yet...
Like we always say, we try to pick you up a bit when things are low, and temper the enthusiasm when we get crazy.... Last night was great news for sure. No way should Scott Walker have been recalled, and he wasn't. However, thats all that happened, and we have a lot of work to do.
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Army of the Potomac General Joseph E. Johnston Is Wounded at Seven Pines, Which Gets Robert E. Lee Away From His Desk - And Onto the Battlefield!
Welcome to the latest installment of our Civil War Rewind series, where we mark important, and not so important events from the War Between the States. It's Summertime now, so get ready, because the posts will be coming fast and furiously for a while!
History is an odd thing.. Sometimes, we see the huge events often as they happen before our eyes, and we can recognize it as it occurs. But more often, the big change is preceded by an innocuous, minor event. Simply put, if Event A never happened, would Event B have occurred? Who knows... Today, we're going to focus on one of the more interesting generals in the Civil War: Joseph E. Johnston.
Johnston was, like most Union and Confederate leaders, a graduate of West Point, and at the time of his defection to the South, was the highest ranking general to side with his Virginia homeland. Very often for Johnston, the War was frustrating for him.. He led the troops at Bull Run (Manassas), but more credit is given to PGT Beauregard at that battle. Soon afterwards, Jefferson Davis realigned the leadership of the Army, and Johnston soon was ranked number four of the five commanders. Like us, he wasn't in good with the bosses.
Still, Johnston was an effective defender, and his Army of the Potomac was head to head with Northern General McClellan during his famed, yet faulted Peninsula Campaign. bad as it was, McClellan had the numbers, and after two slow months, he was at last near Richmond. Despite everything, McClellan was on the verge of a major victory. On May 31, 1862 at Seven Pines all of that changed - not with a Union or Confederate victory, but with a single shot...
While Seven Pines was a draw, Johnston was wounded during the battle. It wasn't life threatening, but bad enough to require Johnston to give up his command. To succeed him, Jefferson Davis chose the man who had spent most of the war at a desk as Davis' military advisor - Gen. Robert E. Lee... The rest is history, but we'll mention Lee once or twice along the war. While most generals would be furious with losing their post, Johnston took it in stride. He is quoted as saying 'The bullet that hit me was the luckiest shot ever fired for The South, for I had no confidence from my superiors, and was replaced by some who did.' Talk about taking it all well....
Johnston was too talented to sit out for long, and soon was involved in what he is most well-known for: his battles with General Sherman in the West. Outmanned and outgunned, Johnston was an effective defender, but again Davis grew tired with his lack of aggressiveness (how do you attack with no army?), and replaced him with John Bell Hood, who managed to destroy the Army of the West in short order.
Johnston eventually took command of what was left to slow down Sherman's advance North from Savannah and keep him from joining Ulysses S. Grant in destroying Lee in Virginia. He succeeded, but by then, it was too late. Johnston soon surrendered his troops to Sherman in North Carolina in an event every bit as cordial as Lee and Grant at appomattoc Court House. In fact, the two became very good friends over the years...
After the war, Johnston became a US Congressman before retiring, and in one of those poignant stories, was a pallbearer at Sherman's funeral, where he refused to wear a hat in his friend's honor. He soon caught pneumonia and died ten days later... Quite a story indeed. We hoped you like today's entry, and come back soon. After all, Robert E. Lee didn't wait long to get to work on McClellan! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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Court Comes Down Harshly On FCGOP's Failure to Comply .....
We're sorry to say we told you so, Florence Republican candidates..... but we told you so. Today, in a unanimous ruling, the SC Supreme Court ruled that the Florence County GOP incorrectly certified four of their candidates currently on next week's Primary ballot, and in doing so, defied a direct ruling that they were aware of from a previous ruling made earlier that week. Though no one is going to jail or anything criminal, the penalties were pretty stiff: All uncertified candidates will be taken off the ballot. In addition, whatever steps the Florence County Election Commission has to take to correct the error, either by reprinting ballots, or furnishing whatever signs or information needed to make all voters aware what candidates are ineligible, the FCGOP will be flipping the bill.
The Court also noted that while this decision applies to Florence County only, all county parties are on notice that similar additional cases will be dealt the same, and that those who improperly certify 'do so at their own peril' . Clearly, the Supreme Court was sending a stern message, but if you'd like to read all the legalese, here it is.
Luckily for the FCGOP, not all of the challengers were axed by this ruling, but a good portion were. It shouldn't come to anyone's surprise that the ruling came down this way. One small surprise is the public statement the SCGOP put out in opposition to the ruling, which is as follows...
South Carolina Republican Party
Matt Moore, matt@scgop.com
... Columbia, S.C.- SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly today issued a statement following the S.C. Supreme Court's decision in the Florence county election case:"Today's Supreme Court decision is extremely disappointing. This is a sad day for South Carolina voters," said Chairman Connelly."It's tragic that good citizens, both Republicans and Democrats, attempted to file as candidates, only to have their names tossed out over a technicality.
"The Supreme Court has injected itself into the political parties' once exclusive right to choose their candidates. Instead of seeing the law as the legislature intended, the court created a "Frankenstein" - a set of hypertechnical rules that defy common sense and ignore the instructions of the state's own Ethics Commission (below). In the process, the court has disenfranchised thousands of South Carolina voters."
From the S.C. State Ethics Commission "Electronic Filing Instructions for Statement of Economic Interests & Campaign Disclosure Reports":
"The Statement of Economic Interests is the only report that needs to be filed online immediately AFTER an individual files as a candidate with the filing officer." (emphasis on "after" added)
And most egregiously, from the first page of the State Ethics Commission's instructions: "Paper copies of these reports are no longer accepted."
We're not sure how much the SCGOP ACTUALLY thinks Florence County was wronged, but at least they put out a nice public statement. The problem is their logic is wrong. They are going by the Ethics Commission recommendations. Well, the Ethics Commission didn't write the law - the Legislature did. Secondly, this wasn't the FCGOP's argument to the complaint, they argued that the candidates all fell under 'public officials' simply by intending to run for office. Again, and incorrect thought, becuase to be a public official, you have to be a candidate, and you are not a candidate until you are correctly certified. We can't seem to put in any clearer terms for the FCGOP to understand. No if's , and's or but's.....
So, after a month of legal wrangling, judicial cases and legislative failures, the truth of what happened is exactly what it started as: the Ethics Commission incorrectly interpreted the law for SEI and SIC filing. They passed it to the state parties, who passed the incorrect info to the county parties. Right down the line... It appears the only ones who didn't mess up are the incumbents - who get a free pass - those who already hold some type of position in a city or county group, and challengers who read the rule for themselves, and did it right. We think there were two of them...
Now, what aftermath is there from all of this? We're not sure right now. Chairman Bill Pickle is staying quiet until he speaks with the attorneys (good idea), but there are a slew of people at risk here: Pickle signed the certification, and from what we've been told, co-signing that is one of the few jobs of the county Secretary, who is Elijah Jones - the newly elected 7th District Chairman. But, the argument could be made that since the original statement of why the candidates were certified was from the FCGOP Leadership themselves, the entire slate could be in trouble....
What kind of trouble? Who knows... The axe could come from Columbia, but after reading Chad Connelly's statement today, we're not so sure that would happen. There is one truth that they better get used to now - this has unofficially become a Lame Duck leadership. The embarrassment of this debacle is statewide, and no amount of work to turn it around will rectify it. They need to find a new set of leaders, because what they have displayed is not leadership.
We're going to let it fly a bit here, and as usual, it's in the interest of letting them try to take a moment and look within a bit here. We'll start with the positives, so it doesn't just look like we're after blood here. The current FCGOP are great at organizing.. They broadened the base, they throw nice events, and they manage to get a lot people to attend them. Every group needs people like these, but this is far from the main trait needed to RUN a county party.
No, to run a group effectively, you have to know your strengths and weaknesses. I have plenty of them, and I'm pretty aware of most of them. This group, which started out as 300 people bumrushing South Florence High in 2009, has really dwindled down to the same 5-6 people doing everything, including making decisions on things they know NOTHING about, like legal matters. How they managed to screw this up when the Supreme Court TOLD THEM what was acceptable and what wasn't is beyond me. All I can attribute it to is an attempt to slip these candidates through with no one noticing. The problem was EVERYONE was watching - and they noticed.
This could have been so easy. The FCGOP and Florence Dems - both of whom got rooked by this ruling, correct as it was - could have gotten together, and worked with each other to get all their candidates on the ballot through petition. It could have been a shining moment for political bipartisanship in Florence County and South Carolina. But, the FCGOP did a headfake, the Dems bit - and the battle was on.
While Chad Connelly was right in that there were lots of disenfranchised voters thanks to the foul up, the ones we feel worst for are the candidates - especially the four in Florence. Because while everywhere else across the state, local GOP groups were working on petitions, the FCGOP cockily told everyone over an over again 'we're good'... I can't tell you how frustrated I was when I advised Bill Pickle to start a contingency plan for the challengers, and got a one word answer - 'Thanks'. Or having to read on my Facebook messages the endless list of misinterpretations by Betty Dowling on why I was a idiot, and everyone who DOESN'T vote on the SC Supreme Court said they were right. If you want a partisan answer , go ask your own paid lawyer or the Attorney General. If you want the truth, ask someone you don't work with....
If it gets me in trouble with party members, so be it, but we speak the truth here, and we know we aren't alone on this.... It's pretty obvious that the Florence GOP defied the Supreme Court on purpose via a twisted logic void of legal fact. Why? Because they don't understand that the law is THE LAW. It's not always fair, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean you try to work your way around it. That isn't how this group operates. It'd be nice to say that they are this way because they're guided by a set of unbendable principles, but that'd be wrong. They're just stubborn. It's that retarded 'you're with us or against us' attitude that explains why solid Republicans across the county no longer associate with them. I won't embarrass them by naming them, but the current leaders drove them off and they deserve everything that they have coming to them - whatever it is.
Maybe this whole fiasco - and that's what it was - will be a learning experience for them. However, we're not holding our breath.... and the anonymous comments should be interesting!
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