DeMint Labor Day event brings Romney to Columbia
While Tim Scott is hosting Rick Perry in Myrtle Beach, word on the grapevine is reporting that Senator Jim DeMint's forum in Columbia has landed its first major candidate.
The event, sponsored by American Principles Project and organized with the help of First Tuesday Strategies (a consulting firm linked to both DeMint and Romney), will be held on September 5 forum at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. Given the connection, it's not surprising to hear that Romney is coming.Tim Scott bringing Rick Perry to Myrtle Beach, Sept. 5th
While the location has yet to be determined, it is certain that First District Congressman Tim Scott will be bringing GOP Presidential candidate Rick Perry to Myrtle Beach on Labor Day - September 5th. This is the third in Scott's ongoing Town Hall series, which brings 2012 GOP Presidential candidates to South Carolina for a discussion with grassroots voters. These events are a partnership between Scott and regional GOP and conservative groups: Berkeley County GOP, the Beaufort County GOP, the Carolina Patriots, the Charleston County Republican Party, the Charleston Tea Party, the Dorchester County Republican Party, the Georgetown County Republican Party, the Georgetown Patriots, the Goose Creek 9/12, the Horry County Republican Party, the Mount Pleasant 9/12, the Myrtle Beach Tea Party, and the Summerville 9/12.
Monday night with the Orangeburg GOP
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| Current and retired military veterans lead the Pledge of Allegiance. |
Michele Bachmann's dirty little pork barrel secret
GOP Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has spent much of her five years in Congress (just one year more than Obama served in the Senate) marketing herself as the hero of the tea party crowd, touting herself as a strict fiscal conservative.
Fighting the "Florence Fix"
Growing questions about plans by Florence County Council to hire the current Council Chair Rusty Smith as County Administrator seem to be slowing down plans to fast-track a backroom deal. While it seemed as if the fix was in for a quick insider deal as early as last week, sources indicated plans to hire Smith were put on hold due to growing scrunity by local citizens.
(I)n this very special situation, county council needs to make its selection process a wide-open affair that’s as transparent as a windshield on the done side of a car wash. They ought to do that anyway, in our opinion, but the slight odor of something awry emanating from the halls of power over this affair makes it an imperative. If people are saying the fix is in, then it’s a public servant’s job to do everything in his power to show them it’s not.
Municipal governments in South Carolina are required to maintain a certain amount of transparency when hiring a top executive. The state’s open records law requires them to make public the applications and other materials associated with “no fewer than three” candidates who are seriously considered.
We think they ought to go further in this case, and have asked county officials do so. We’d like to take a look, and have the public take a look, at all the resumes received for the job. There are supposedly close to 100, but we’d think it would be worth the time to look, just so we’d know how many really qualified candidates there are and to understand what choices council had before they do or do not select Smith.
We'll be sure to keep you posted.
Florence County: Back-room politics update
On Thursday, Florence County Council is expected to meet behind closed doors to do what politicians often do behind closed doors - do things they don't want you to see them doing. Like giving one of their own a free ride to become the next County Administrator, which we first reported earlier this month.One former member of County Council questioned this pending insider deal and accused Smith of using his position on Council to benefit himself. In a letter to local news media, he asked Florence County residents to:
(A)sk your council member (and Rusty Smith):
1. How did Smith get the road to his home changed to a county-maintained road from a privately maintained road?
2. How did Smith get the county to keep his property taxes below that of comparable properties nearby?
3. How did Smith buy property in a county industrial park considerably below market value? Wasn’t the classification of the property in the park set for manufacturing, not retail? Also, how much park work benefitting Smith was performed while Smith was a councilman?
Mark your calendar: Sept. 5 - Charleston GOP Labor Day picnic
Charleston County Republicans are having a Labor Day picnic that you don't want to miss. Last year's event was a great one.Mark your calendar: Aug. 29, Orangeburg - Joe Wilson & Jim DeMint picnic and reception
On Monday, August 29, 2011, Senator Jim DeMint and Second District Congressman Joe Wilson will be visiting with Orangeburg Republicans for a evening fundraiser and GOP rally:
Cox Farm
Deer Crossing Road, which is off U.S. 178 just west of Orangeburg
4:30 - 5:15 pm Private Reception with US Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Joe Wilson
5:00 - 7:00 pm Picnic and Tea Party
Tickets for the picnic are $25 and sponsorships with admission to the private reception are as follows:
Lindsey Graham Town Hall tour hits North Charleston
In spite of a stormy night in North Charleston, a full house crowd gathered at North Charleston City Hall for a Town Hall meeting with Senator Lindsey Graham.
Mark your calendar: Aug. 25, North Charleston - Tim Scott town hall featuring Michele Bachmann
In the second of an ongoing series of Meet-The-Candidate town hall forums for Presidential candidates, First District Congressman Tim Scott will bring GOP Presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann to North Charleston. The event will be held on August 25 at 7 pm at Trident Technical College in North Charleston.
I am excited to introduce my colleague Michele Bachmann to the voters of South Carolina, and I know she will find a deep base of support in our state. The town hall series is an opportunity for voters to ask candidates the questions that are important to them, and in the process, to determine which candidate is best qualified to be our Republican nominee and our next President.
Trident Technical College is located at 7000 Rivers Avenue (U.S. Route 52-78) in North Charleston.
The Tribes of Palmetto State GOP Politics
Kudos to Cahaly, Donehue, and Whetsell for making this article, in which The State newspaper looked at the evolving GOP landscape, often dominated by a collection of loose alliances, which they referred to as "tribes".For years, if you wanted to run for office in this GOP-dominated state, you had to visit one of the three chiefs — Richard Quinn, Rod Shealy or Warren Tompkins — whose Midlands-based political tribes regularly warred against each other, running competing Republican candidates. But just as the 2010 election saw a host of new faces — four new congressmen plus a new governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and treasurer — it also saw the rise of the next crop of GOP political consultants who are challenging the dominance of the onetime “Big 3.”
The tribal nature of S.C. Republican politics still exists, and it probably always will.
But the tribes are evolving.
Mark your calendar: This Wednesday, Pro-Israel rally, Columbia
State Representative Alan Clemmons is leading the Glenn Beck Restoring Courage Satellite-based Rally in support of Israel this Wednesday at the State House in Columbia from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. This event will be followed by others around the state later in the day.Ghosts of 1968 & 1980 to haunt Obama re-election?
It’s easy to see why news of a potential Democratic primary challenge to President Obama should both concern Democrats and delight Republicans. History shows that those who are forced to fight for their party’s base are often doomed to one-term presidencies.Visiting the Summerville 912ers
Obama's vacation and "unconscionable ineptitude"
As Wall Street sinks and resolving the budget impasse which set it off remains a vague work-in-progress, President Obama seems hell bent on doing something decisive.Go Nukes!
Concerns over the supply of affordable electricity for South Carolina came another step closer to being addressed with another regulatory hurdle cleared for the expansion of the Midlands V.C. Summer nuclear power plant.Meanwhile, the Blogland is still waiting to hear if some of the nuclear plant's oppoonents will agree to kill themselves to reduce their carbon footprint upon the environment.
Editor's Note: What's New in the Blogland
After a while of putting it off, I finally rearranged and revised the Blogland layout. The biggest change was the long-overdue updating of the sliding headline box.Guest op-ed: Is Sarah Palin running?
This guest op-ed comes from Blogland reader Charlie Lybrand. Lybrand has been the elected Register of Deeds for Charleston County since 1995. You can submit your guest op-ed, which will be printed verbatim with attribution, by emailing earl@earlcapps.org.E-verify mandatory in SC on January 1
Mark your calendar: Aug. 29, Orangeburg - Joe Wilson & Jim DeMint picnic and reception
On Monday, August 29, 2011, Senator Jim DeMint and Second District Congressman Joe Wilson will be visiting with Orangeburg Republicans for a evening fundraiser and GOP rally:
Cox Farm
Deer Crossing Road, which is off U.S. 178 just west of Orangeburg
4:30 - 5:15 pm Private Reception with US Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Joe Wilson
5:00 - 7:00 pm Picnic and Tea Party
Tickets for the picnic are $25 and sponsorships with admission to the private reception are as follows:
Mark your calendar: Aug. 25, North Charleston - Tim Scott town hall featuring Michele Bachmann
In the second of an ongoing series of Meet-The-Candidate town hall forums for Presidential candidates, First District Congressman Tim Scott will bring GOP Presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann to North Charleston. The event will be held on August 25 at 7 pm at Trident Technical College in North Charleston.
I am excited to introduce my colleague Michele Bachmann to the voters of South Carolina, and I know she will find a deep base of support in our state. The town hall series is an opportunity for voters to ask candidates the questions that are important to them, and in the process, to determine which candidate is best qualified to be our Republican nominee and our next President.
Trident Technical College is located at 7000 Rivers Avenue (U.S. Route 52-78) in North Charleston.
Bachmann campaign attacks another reporter
Network news senior vice president Jeffrey Schneider said reporter Brian Ross was shoved Tuesday as security tried to block him from the Minnesota congresswoman while he asked whether she had to miss votes because of migraines.
Famous brats endorse Huntsman
The campaign for Jon Huntsman has a new strategy to boost their campaign. If you can't get big names to endorse you, just get their less-accomplished kids to do so and hope nobody notices the difference.Two years ago, I jumped on board Marco Rubio's campaign when he was polling at 3 percent, and we made history,” he said. “With Jon, I can't wait to make history again.
Michele Bachmann holding clergy-only meeting at SC campaign stop
According to sources, GOP Presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann will be holding a clergy-only private event during a campaign stop in Florence on August 18th.However, we have no word on if reputed Bachmann supporter Cyndi Mosteller, a former Lowcountry Republican, will crash the doors at this event to confront people over their religious views?
We here in the Blogland take a dim view of those who tie politics and religion too closely together, which is a view held by at least some of those in the Bachmann camp. We'll try to keep you posted about this event.
GOP prevails in Wisconsin recall elections
Democrats unhappy with the GOP's stand against labor unions in Wisconsin huffed, they puffed and they brought in millions of dollars and hundreds of outside "volunteers". They targeted recall campaigns for six of the most vulnerable state Senate districts in what was a normally a reliable Democratic state. Polling showed leads in at least four of the six, including two by double-digit margins, while Republicans were barely clinging on in the other two.While it seemed their plan couldn't fail, that's exactly what happened.
Democratic efforts to flip enough Senate districts to overcome the GOP's 19-14 majority fell short. Republicans held onto four of the six targeted races and carried just under 53% of all votes cast in the recall elections.
More cronyism in Florence County
Mark your calendar: Sunday, Charleston - Tim Scott town hall featuring Jon Huntsman
First District Congressman Tim Scott is building on his growing reputation by working with local GOP and Tea Party organizations to bring Presidential candidates to the Lowcountry in a series of Town Hall style events.
Mark your calendar: September 17, 5th District GOP rally in Lancaster
Having teamed up to topple former Congressman John Spratt last year in what was the highest-ranking national-level political ouster in the state since the last Royal Governor fled Charleston in 1776, Fifth District Republicans are leaving nothing to chance, planning a big regional rally to start planning for next year's elections:At the Buford Recreational Center
4073 Hurley Walters Road Lancaster, SC
Mark your calendar: August 29, Orangeburg - Joe Wilson & Jim DeMint picnic and reception
On Monday, August 29, 2011, Senator Jim DeMint and Second District Congressman Joe Wilson will be visiting with Orangeburg Republicans for a evening fundraiser and GOP rally:
Cox Farm
Deer Crossing Road, which is off U.S. 178 just west of Orangeburg
4:30 - 5:15 pm Private Reception with US Senator Jim DeMint and Congressman Joe Wilson
5:00 - 7:00 pm Picnic and Tea Party
Congratulations - it's a District!
Governor Haley, joined by over 100 Pee Dee residents and GOP activists, signed the recently-passed Congressional redistricting plan into law at a bill-signing event in Myrtle Beach today.
During the bill-signing event, Haley congratulated the activists for "making their voices heard" and discussed a number of appearances at the State House where those lobbying for the Seventh to go to the Pee Dee region, wearing their "Pee Dee Wants the 7th District" t-shirts, turned the State House into a "sea of red".Guest op-ed: Diane Carr, Partisan elections for York County
York County Republican Party Director of Communications, Diane Carr put out an excellent editorial response to counter the Rock Hill Herald Editorial Board Op-ed title: “Say no to partisan elections” (http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/07/27/3248477/say-no-to-partisan-elections.html#ixzz1TJpSxB1e). While Carr's response has not been published in the Herald, we've agreed to republish it here.We read that partisan elections would bring “baggage” with which voters would have to contend such as divided government like Columbia and Washington, “where political bickering and dysfunction often rule the day.” There may be other reasons those politicians don’t see eye-to-eye other than party affiliation. Many issues considered by local, state and federal lawmakers are important, complicated and have far-reaching consequences. Public debates are needed to clarify these issues and to learn constituent’s thoughts on matters that may affect them and their families for generations to come.
- Corruption SC: Looking at the corrupt, dishonest and inept
- Election 2012: Looking back at Election 2012
- Endorsements 2012: Here's who we supported and why
- Guest Op-eds: Here's what our readers are saying
- Crime and Courts: Judicial and law enforcement issues
- Interviews: Meet important S.C. politicos
- My Life: What's going on in my life and work
- Music: What rocks me - and what should rock you
- Recommended Reading: Good books to read, mostly on political communication
- South Carolina Politics: The latest news and views
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