The Sad Fall of Kevin Geddings
Prison sentencing is today for Kevin Geddings, a long-time Democratic political operative in the Carolinas, convicted of perjury for fraud charges related to North Carolina's lottery.Those of us in South Carolina politics will remember him best as the architect of the 1998 upset victory of former Governor Jim Hodges. After his successful orchestration of efforts to pass a lottery referendum in 2000, Geddings’ efforts in 2002 to stop Mark Sanford from ousting Hodges, then his political patron, fell short.
Not long after Hodges' defeat, Geddings moved to North Carolina, where he helped push that state’s lottery through. While his South Carolina political opponents failed to prove their allegations of favored deals and shady associations, it would his latest political victory, the North Carolina lottery, that would be his downfall.
While South Carolina’s lottery can be faulted for sparking a wave of steep tuition hikes, failing to address socio-demographic inequities among the state’s college student population, as well as failing to help school districts cope with school bus shortages or provide the billions they were forced to borrow since then to fund school construction, at least no ethical questions have been raised about the lottery.
But in the wake of North Carolina’s lottery scandal, one does have to wonder what might have visited South Carolina had Geddings not left the state after Hodges’ ouster. Would the corruption that he helped bring to North Carolina had infested Columbia instead?
While this may be a vindication of those who warned that corruption would follow video poker and the lottery, both of which were associated with Geddings, to South Carolina, corruption still runs rampant in South Carolina. A series of indictments of public officials in Orangeburg County, including a Chairman of County Council and a police chief, are stark reminders that ethical governance is still a challenge in the Palmetto State.
Whatever sentence the judge imposes upon Geddings, it will do nothing to restore the trust the public has lost their in government. It will also leave a wife without the comfort and companionship of her husband, and a child without his father. Personally and politically, there are no winners, only losers.
One of the worst flaws in our state’s political culture is how it blurs the line between the political from the personal. Along with many Blogland fans, I regularly worked against Geddings’ candidates, but I hope we can be big enough to set aside political grudges and consider what he and his family face on a personal level. We should hope and pray that they will endure and emerge stronger from whatever lies ahead. I hope you will too.
As we consider what could have been, let us be grateful that it did not. But we must also keep a vigilant watch over government in South Carolina, as well as demand the scrupulous maintenance (and improvement) of our state’s political ethics laws. Let us hope and pray that the political corruption which is still disgracefully commonplace in our state will one day be remembered a sad chapter of our state’s past and not read about in the headlines of our newspapers.
As far as his sucess, Harpootlian and others made Hodges Governor, not Geddings. Everyone talks about Atwater, Tompkins, etc. I would bet on Harpootlian way over those guys, he is the master. Never met anyone so bright as an operative. The best by far in my book. Call him names , etc. but the man is a genius and a good guy.
Beasley's people did their part to snatch defeat out of the jaws out of what should have been sure victory.
But in 2002, the GOP was smarter, less willing to let their ranks be divided, and less willing to let their party be run by its extremists and most power-hungry.
But for four years, Geddings, Harpo, Hodges and others taught the GOP a lesson that should stick around a while - never take victory for granted, no matter what.
But I won't lie - I'm glad Harpo moved on. He's one of the few Democrats smart and shrewd enough to see opportunities few others see, and aggressive enough to take full advantage of them.
... and I sure as hell wouldn't want to face him in the courtroom either.
This a political witch hunt by a GOP US Attorney against a Democratic operative who won in the South.
It was like with Martha Steward. She was Hillary's friend. So W's minions showed her.
What BS. Put drug dealers away and terrorist away, not people who don't like politically.
I admit the Clintons started this with Travel Gate and some of the criminal prosecutions they had their US Attorneys start. But, this is nuts.
Any politico worth his salt had better be worried if the other side takes power. Politics is now a crime.
By a relative measure, as you suggest, maybe it was a bit heavy-handed. People who commit other crimes get in less trouble. But even a lesser sentence would've put him out of politics.
However, in the wake of the high-profile incidences of corruption in north carolina, including a House Speaker, Commissioner of Agriculture, and another state House member, I could see where a message may have been intended. From what I understand Jim Black won't be getting any breaks either.
In the end, part of me thinks this was the right thing, but I'd feel better if everyone else got more equitable sentencing.
By a relative measure, as you suggest, maybe it was a bit heavy-handed. People who commit other crimes get in less trouble. But even a lesser sentence would've put him out of politics.
However, in the wake of the high-profile incidences of corruption in north carolina, including a House Speaker, Commissioner of Agriculture, and another state House member, I could see where a message may have been intended. From what I understand Jim Black won't be getting any breaks either.
In the end, part of me thinks this was the right thing, but I'd feel better if everyone else got more equitable sentencing.
Making him pay more then criminals for political reasons...such as the climate in NC..is wrong and defeats the idea of the non political nature of the justice system.
Such are the times we live in. Clinton started it. Bush continued it. The children of Kevin Geddings are the real losers. I wonder, if Mr. Geddings was a a guy who was not in politics and fudged his federal home loan application, a similar crime, would he get four years in prison?
For example, we in SC have a former state senator, Ty Courtney, who lied on federal loan applications and was even married to two women at once. The result? A few months at best at club fed and his law partner taking his seat in the state senate.
Maybe Courtney did, and I'm sure he wasn't the only one who got a pass. They shouldn't have, and I'd certainly be interested in hearing from someone who can explain the examples you cite.
Perhaps if everyone got nailed as hard as he did, along with other non-political criminals, we'd have less corruption in office and safer streets.
However, I think you hit on a good idea. Back in the early 90s, a former Sheriff who used jail inmates to work on his Lake Wateree house got sentenced to spend some time working on that same chain gang.
Such things are very fitting. Corrupt officials should be punished in a very public and humble manner.
It's cool to hear from someone who is Orthodox. As an Eastern Catholic, there is much about Orthodoxy that has become very close and dear to me. You should get more active in your blogging.