Video poker inspired by Sanford's ethical retreat?

Two decades ago, video poker machines began showing up in the backrooms of small stores across South Carolina. Ten years later, video gambling had blossomed into a large industry which filled warehouse-sized locations and helped oust a Governor and several legislators. With a friendly Governor and an intimidated Legislature, it took the intervention of the courts to rein the industry in.

A recent shooting near Charleston in which nine outlawed video poker machines were confiscated was far from the only recent sighting of video gambling machines around the state:

Charleston County Sheriff's deputies said they confiscated nine arcade-style poker machines from a home where a man was shot with a rifle this weekend.

In the wake of video poker, reformers sought to close the loopholes which allowed that industry to pour millions into political front groups without having to disclose. While this was once the cause of the current Governor, now that Sanford's agenda benefits from the support of groups like SCRG, the campaign disclosure reforms the Governor once advocated now seems forgotten.

Perhaps the video poker industry has found inspiration in Sanford's craven sell-out, hoping that they once again may be able to buy politicians and topple those who resist.

There is no small irony that the Governor who preached the gospel of "reform" and "leadership" has engaged in the same kind of shady pay-to-play politics that he once criticized. While we hope the video poker industry doesn't follow Sanford's example, we're not going to bet our state's future on it.

Those legislators who want to defang Governor Sanford's out-of-state allies, as well as head off video poker at the pass, would be wise to quickly resurrect campaign finance and disclosure reforms. If the Governor wants to undo some of the political damage which has been done in the last two election cycles, as well as remain true to his reform rhetoric, he'll sign such legislation when it reaches his desk.

After the damage which has been done to this state's political culture and its people by centuries of "highest bidder" politics, enacting legislation which requires full disclosure of campaign finances and expenditures may be one of the most important things Sanford can accomplish in the time he has left in office.

Doug Smith's parting shot

After sixteen years, many of them as Speaker Pro Tem, Spartanburg's State Rep. Doug Smith is hanging it up and going home. We know it's not easy juggling family, work, and legislative service, and he's done it longer than most House members.

His departure, along with the upset of Rep. Bob Walker, who chaired the Education and Public Works Committee, as well as the retirement of John Hawkins, who also had over a decade of legislative service, will cost the county a lot of seniority. While in the House, length of service isn't everything, it is in the Senate.

It will be interesting to see the real impact of losing two House big dogs and two Senators all at the same time when next year's session gets rolling.

Back to Doug Smith ... his op-ed that ran in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal takes a strong shot at our favorite Spartanburg Republican, Rick Beltram:

I was never guaranteed my seat, nor did I ever expect the party chairman to protect or cover me if I had faced a primary. Once I was in office, however, I did expect the chairman to defend his local Republican elected officials - an expectation Beltram, as chairman, has consistently failed to meet.

Most know Beltram as a self-absorbed media hound who has never met a news release he wouldn't release. It is a pity hardworking Republicans have had to work in the shadow of someone who either doesn't understand the damage he does to our party, or doesn't care, or both.

A portrait of Ronald Reagan hangs in the S.C. House Chamber because of a resolution that I prepared and sponsored. I am normally a believer in Reagan's commandment not to speak ill of a fellow Republican, but when it comes to an extreme case like our local Republican chairman, someone finally has to speak the truth.

OUCH!!!

Inside Interview: Phillip Lowe

Our Inside Interview this week takes a look at State Representative Phillip Lowe, who holds the Pee Dee region's House District 60, which reaches from the outskirts of Sumter up to the west side of Florence, roughly following U.S. Highway 76 (does one get their kicks on that Route as well?). He's a Republican who resides in Florence County, and is finishing his first term. He was elected with 60% of the vote to succeed retiring Republican Marty Coates.

1) How did you get into politics?

From an early age I have chosen to get involved in matters that interest me. From college days of class president to community involvement and serving boards of directors, I am know as someone who enjoys leading and solving problems.

In 2004 I came to the State house follow a bill from that would have effected my profession of physical therapy. I knew then, I wanted to become more involved.

When my representative decided to retire, community leaders and the Republican party approached me to run. After consultation with my friends and family, who unanimously advised me to not run, I did it anyway.

2) In looking back at your first two years, what would you say you've done to add value to the State House?

Several times I have looked up at the voting board and realized that I cast the one extra we needed to prevail. Freshman make the most difference in sub-committee where the details on bills are worked out.

Specifically, I worked hard on the small business health insurance premiums, immigration, prompt pay, DUI, and new hunting and fishing laws and several environmental bills.

3) Of the House seats in the state, yours is probably the most Democratic one which is held by a Republican. What do you learn about being a candidate and/or legislator in such a district that someone might not in a more Republican district?

My district is a blend of suburban and rural areas encompassing 700 square miles of Florence and Sumter Counties. Republicans from the larger cities generally do not have the same types of problems as my district. While some folks are securing funds for new museums and fine arts centers, I am trying to get the basic needs like sewer, water and libraries for my citizens.

Parts of South Carolina have a growing tax base with fine schools while small towns suffer from declining revenues, an aging population, dilapidated infrastructure, and failing schools.

Rural SC has a different set of problems that are largely ignored. As conservative as I am on spending, stopping growth of government, and reducing taxes, I still must represent my district and address basic human needs.

4) What do you see as the biggest challenges that you'd like to work on in your next term?

• Job and Economic Growth
• Educational Funding
• Health Care
• Protection of Family Values
• Tax Reduction
• Roads and Infrastructure

5) In the Blogland, we love our music. Tell us your favorite artist and/or album.

Old time is the Eagles and Skynyrd and Zeppelin

Today Three Doors Down, Match Box 20, Train, or anything Live

House leadership vacancies - the second shootout?

Make no mistake about it - this spring was a political shootout at the OK Corral, for control of the Legislature. Even though the dust is just beginning to settle from those races, the next shootout is about to begin.

One gang - the Governor, his legislative allies and special interest groups - fought it out with the other Republican "gang" of legislators. Many of the casualties were first and second term legislators, such as Catherine Ceips, Heyward Hutson, and Randy Scott, who hadn't secured their political bases. While the Governor's people scored some wins, a lot of the seats targeted by the Governor and his allies didn't go their way.

The next shootout between the two camps will be in the upcoming races for a whole pack of open House leadership slots, in which many of the candidates are either allies of the Governor or those who were unsuccessfully targeted by the Governor's crowd. In fact, we don't think we've seen this much turnover at the same time since the GOP took over the House after the 1994 elections.

We’re going to look at what’s open and who’s running – and see what you, our readers, have to say:

MAJORITY LEADER: Jim Merrill has been many of the things a Majority Leader should be – articulate, charismatic, and politically savvy. His decision to step down from this post has opened up a hotly contested race to succeed him: Mike Pitts from Laurens County, a retired police officer who is the star of Second Amendment advocates, Kenny Bingham from Lexington County, and Alan Clemmons from Horry County.

We jokingly dubbed Clemmons “The Waterboy” at this year’s GOP convention, but he’s a prodigious fundraiser, having run one of the first $100K House races ever run. His fundraising prowess could make him a strong asset to the House Republican leadership. Plus we appreciate his work ethic, as shown by his willingness to hit the convention floor, passing out water bottles to delegates.

Ok, we apologize for the bad joke there ... Clemmons is the guy on the left.

ASSISTANT MAJORITY LEADER: This seat is also opening up. We see a two-way race at present, between Florence second-termer Kris Crawford and Bruce Bannister, who surprised political observers by winning the Greenville County House seat that was vacated when former House Speaker accepted the prestigious ambassadorship to Canada. Crawford is seen as the Sanford ally in this race. Now the two are going to see who can get on the fast-track for even higher leadership slots.

LCI CHAIRMAN: Current Chair Harry Cato, from Greenville County, is moving up in what seems to be an uncontested bid for Speaker Pro Tempore, which opens up a three-way race between Lexington Rep. Nikki Haley, ranking committee member Oconee Rep. Bill Sandifer, and Charleston Rep. Wallace Scarborough.

Sandifer turned back a well-funded challenge from the Governor's allies, while Haley is well-known to be a strong Sanford ally. Scarborough is seen as somewhere in between the two, but faces what is expected to be a strong re-election challenge which he will have to win before he can seek the slot.

EDUCATION AND PUBLIC WORKS CHAIRMAN: Initially this race was intended to be a showdown between Bob Walker and Ted Pitts from Lexington County. But the 19 people who gave Walker’s challenger an upset win in the GOP primary changed that, and the race is now a four-way affair.

While Pitts may have been an early post-Walker favorite, he has been identified as the candidate most closely aligned with Governor Sanford, which we were told has cost him some support. In the realigned open race, B.R. Skelton and Bill Whitmire, both of whom survived well-funded attacks by Governor Sanford’s allies in the recent GOP primaries, have also begun testing the waters.

The wild card in this race is Mike Anthony, a Union County Democrat who is well-liked by Republicans. Keep in mind this committee had a Democratic chair even after the GOP took over the House in 1994.

It would seem that should any of the candidates than Pitts become the next Education chair, it would be a stinging and costly rebuke for the Governor’s crowd, who invested a small fortune to knock Walker off in hopes of getting a more friendly leader of that committee.

AGRICULTURE CHAIRMAN: For some, Green Acres may be the place to be. For others, the place to be is the chairmans's seat on the House Agriculture Committee.

The current holder, Bill Witherspoon from Horry County, is retiring, and a three-way races is developing for the job. Dwight Loftis from Greenville County seems to have a good shot at the seat, having been in the House since 1996, as compared to Jeff Duncan from Laurens County, who was elected in '02 and Nelson Hardwick from Horry County, who will be starting his second term in the House.

We did have someone offer us $20 to say nice things about Jeff Duncan. He seems to be a nice enough guy, but come on, we don't take payoffs here. Just free beer.

YOUR TURN … what do YOU think? Sound off in the comments section. We’d love to hear what you’ve heard, or what you think of the candidates and our analysis of these developing leadership races.

Our State Senate Runoff picks: Knotts, Martin, and a Toss-up

We’ve been sitting back, doing a little traveling, watching a lot of movies, and watching the runoff races boil in the Upstate and Midlands as three Senate races – one open seat and two incumbents – have turned into all-out wars. For those of you who care what we think (but never just take our word for anything, it’d be like taking candy from strangers), here’s our Senate Run-off picks:

Knotts wins in Lexington County:

Two weeks ago, a lot of people were expecting Katrina Shealy to continue building momentum into the second round of voting in this race. Indeed, we believe that if the run-off vote had been held in the first 48 hours after the primary, Knotts would have lost.

Shealy's primary campaign seemed to run smoothly, aided by tons of outside money and a well-focused message which challenged years of Knotts' attacks on the Governor and his bull-in-the-china-shop approach to politics. However, the dynamics of the race seemed to have changed as Knotts has – at long last - begun to get some lucky breaks. The first of these was when the third-place primary candidate, who everyone expected to come out for Shealy, ended up giving a surprise endorsement to Knotts.

While Governor Sanford and Senator DeMint came out for Shealy, Knotts received the endorsement of Congressman Joe Wilson, the numero uno Republican in Lexington County politics, along with Lt. Governor Andre Bauer, whose support among the core GOP voters who will comprise much of the run-off turnout, has always been strong. We’re betting that Wilson and Bauer beat Sanford and DeMint when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of run-off voters. Especially as poorly as the Governor fared in his re-election primary in Lexington County.

The last weekend, a number of legislators who had survived knock-off attempts by the Governor’s allies were sighted walking and making calls for Knotts. No doubt they were eager to see the Governor lose his most high-profile runoff fight, right in his backyard.

In the race which will give the winning side tremendous bragging rights, we expect that Jakie Knotts will win re-election, and might just win it by more than a couple of points.

Martin trounces Ritchie in Spartanburg:

A year or so back, when Senator Jim Ritchie began testing the waters for a possible statewide candidacy, he should have considered how it would be received back home. Two strong challengers came out of the woodwork, hoping Ritchie would not be seeking re-election, and a lot of voters didn’t believe he would be sticking around for an entire term, if re-elected. So almost two-thirds of them voted for Ritchie’s challengers. So many that Ritchie finished a distant second and came within a few dozen votes of seeing Shane Martin knock him out in the first round.

This round won’t even be close. Shane Martin will win this one easily.

Whoever talked Ritchie into considering a statewide run really screwed him good.

Bright and Talley fight down to the finish line:

Lee Bright is a hell of a tough customer. Four years ago, he almost knocked out John Hawkins, the now-retiring incumbent Senator. This time around, we weren’t surprised to see him in a runoff for the open seat, finishing a close second place behind current Representative Scott Talley.

In the runoff, Bright was endorsed by the third-placer, who got a little over ten percent of the vote. While that endorsement may have given him a little nudge towards the 50% mark, we’re not sure if Sanford’s endorsement helped.

One should keep in mind that both candidates for House seats within that Senate district who were backed by Sanford and Sons – Ken Roach and Roger Nutt – lost their bids by modest margins in spite of high-dollar third party campaigns waged to help their candidacies. Spartanburg voters have been known to be tough customers who generally favor less politically-extreme Republicans than GOP voters elsewhere in the Upstate.

In any other situation, we’d say Bright has the advantage, but Talley is an aggressive campaigner who has pushed hard and even gone on the attack with some pretty hard-hitting TV spots. We believe this race will be close, with turnout and an effective ground game being the key to the outcome of this race.

By midnight, we’ll know who won and who lost. In the meantime, don’t touch that dial ...

South Carolina tomatoes are SAFE!!!

Good news for Blogland readers - South Carolina home-grown tomatoes are not only the best tomatoes in the world ... they're also safe to eat and free of suspicion in the recent reports of contamination:

Have you had your “red” today? For years, nutritionists have encouraged us to put a rainbow of fruits and vegetables on our plates every day to stay healthy. Fruits and veggies in the red group help maintain a healthy heart, memory function, a lower risk of some cancers, and urinary tract health.

What better way to start the summer than with luscious South Carolina grown tomatoes which are just beginning to arrive at local markets throughout the state.

The good news is that South Carolina grown tomatoes have NOT been associated with the recent salmonellosis outbreak. One reason is that South Carolina growers and others in the industry use both good agricultural practices and good handling practices when producing, packing, and shipping produce.

We've long been big fans of Commissioner Hugh Weathers' "Certified South Carolina" agricultural marketing campaign, but this certainly is another boost for the program. Thanks to South Carolina farmers, we'll be able to shop home-grown with confidence that we're getting the best and safest food in the world!

Representative Erickson gets results with "Lauren Gentry" law

Those who say a freshman legislator can't really hope to get much done, other than learn where the restrooms and free dinners are at, should take lessons from Shannon Erickson, Beaufort County's hard-working freshman State Representative.

In the closing days of this year's legislative session, her "Lauren Gentry" bill made it through the Senate and onto the Governor's desk. This new law will help protect the rights of South Carolina students who are victims of those predators and bullies on campus.

While we were glad to do our part to help move the bill through, the bulk of the work was done by Erickson, with the help of some compelling testimony from Ms. Gentry.

Representative Erickson saw a real problem and acted to do something about it. That's what leadership is all about. For a first-year legislator, this kind of hands-on commitment to getting results is impressive, and it's a good way to assess her long-term potential to grow and become a real leader in the State House.

Time for a cease fire?

Over the last three months, we’ve watched a massive statewide battle take place. While some may attempt to claim the results point to a turning point in state affairs, a closer look suggests very little has changed.

Several of the legislators who went down or will be struggling to survive run-off battles did plenty to defeat themselves. Most notably were Senator Randy Scott and Representative Gloria Haskins. A number of challengers backed by SCRG-backed challengers and candidates for open seats did well, as could be expected considering a number of incumbents were pummeled by continual waves of attack mailings, push polls and even television advertising.

But a large number of SCRG-targeted races failed to go their way. Incumbents survived in the majority of races, and plenty of the open seats they targeted were close races or went for non-SCRG candidates.

The most important lesson learned from last night, in our humble opinion, is that no incumbent is truly bullet-proof and that winning office requires hard work, humility, and the willingness to respect your opponent’s ability to put up a fight. While we’ve disagreed with SCRG a lot, we’ll give them credit for helping shake some cages that long needed shaking in Columbia. We hope that long-overdue lesson won’t soon be forgotten.

Over the last few weeks, everyone involved in these primary feuds have turned up the heat. We’ve certainly done our share of slugging in a number of races around the state, so we’re not going to mislead our readers by claiming sainthood.

Tonight, we’ve heard from those on both sides who swear they’re not going to quit, not going to budge, and have every reason to believe the fighting will continue. But after what we’ve seen the last few months, we can’t help but believe there has to be a better way.

We hope we’re not the only ones who feel that way.

Primary in the Blogland

It’s Election Day today. Are you going to vote? We are.

We’re still not voting in the Senate 38 race. Mike Rose and most of his people have done nothing more than be rude and nasty to us, so why would we want to do them any favors?

A few weeks ago, we reconsidered our original plan not to vote in the Horne-Hutson race. But the personal attacks and smear tactics from Heyward and company got too much for us to watch, so we’re voting for Jenny Horne. Whatever she is, at least she's honest and doesn't go around trying to disenfranchise people in ways that would make the Klan and Nazi brownshirts proud.

So what do we see going on out there … ?

We’ll be surprised if Jakie Knotts returns to the Senate, or Gloria Haskins to the House. Luke Rankin will win big in his Senate primary, as will Kent Williams, Robert Ford and Clem Pinckney on the Democratic side. So will Carl Gullick, Bob Walker, and Gilda Cobb-Hunter in the House.

Scott Talley will edge out Lee Bright for one Spartanburg Senate seat, and Jim Ritchie and Shane Martin will go into runoff overtime for the other. Catherine Ceips and Randy Scott will have close races, and could lose their seats as well. Jenny Horne will run close with Heyward Hutson in one Dorchester House race, and could score a rematch upset, but next door, Annette Young will roll her primary challenger.

There will be close races for Solicitor in the Lowcountry between Jennings and Wilson, as well as in the Upstate with Adams and Drawdy. A couple of weeks back, we had reliable sources tell us Wilson was slightly ahead, but Jennings has been running some strong and focused TV spots which have to be exerting a strong influence on late-breaking undecideds.

We have no idea who will win the GOP nods for open House seats in Aiken and Horry, or the GOP race for the open Senate seat in Greenwood.

Lindsey Graham wins by a comfortable margin in a race which we’ve always said was his fault.

Brian McCarty over at Voting under the Influence has some pretty good insights, which we largely agree with. Go check them out.

Overall, turnout will be mixed. In some places, like along the Wade Hampton US 29 corridor from the Bob Jones campus to downtown Spartanburg, as well as Beaufort, Dorchester and Lexington Counties, it’ll be red-hot in numerous legislative races. But in most places, we think primary turnout will be nothing like the big turnouts seen in 2002 and 2004.

On a local note … if Mike Rose beats Randy Scott, expect a petition candidacy in the fall. We’ve been contacted, but we’re not getting involved. Sure Mike Rose and his people have never liked us very much, but a petition candidacy is simply a do-over of the primary. We’ll accept the will of the voters.

Further, political history is pretty clear on the odds of a petition candidacy succeeding: zero. Only three House members, and none in the Senate, have won races as petition candidates in the last two decades, and only one of those: Bubba Cromer from Richland County – was legitimately elected as a non-party candidate.

We’ll talk about all the news tomorrow, and get your thoughts on what this state can look forward to – for better or for worse.

Developer cash raises questions about Hutson's ethics

Last fall, Heyward Hutson returned to the State House from the Summerville area, with a campaign largely backed by a local group of anti-growth advocates.

In their zeal to score a win, either the anti-growth crowd didn't realize Hutson was pulling a fast one on them, or they wanted a win so bad they didn't care.

Much of the problem of growth in the Summerville area was fueled by rampant real estate speculation, where people would buy homes and "flip them" outright, or rent them for the short term while they waited for a better offer. There is no small irony in the knowledge that one of those real estate investors is Representative Hutson himself. One of his rental properties is located on Axtell Drive in the Newington Plantation subdivision, not far from Flowertown and Newington Elementary Schools - both overcrowded due to the kind of rampant over-development that Hutson both opposes and profits from.

While that's bad enough, the truth about Hutson just gets worse. He's not just fueling development - he's taking thousands of dollars from real estate developers and their political allies.

Allegations have followed a shadowy campaign by Howard Rich, a New York real estate investor, to pour thousands of dollars into South Carolina campaigns. Wikipedia sources note that he has been adventuring in a number of states in a similar manner. A story from the Washington Post reported that Rich has become a major financier of the "property rights" movement, a term long alleged by growth opponents to be a code phrase for "developer special interests":

“The property-rights movement, as it is known, has a major new benefactor — Howard Rich, a wealthy libertarian real estate investor from Manhattan,” The Washington Post recently reported. “He has spent millions — estimates run as high as $11 million — to support initiatives that will appear on ballots throughout much of the West.”

The Stop Howard Rich SC website has detailed the numerous shell groups through which Mr. Rich has funnelled campaign cash to various South Carolina candidates, including Hutson. Their reports, which can be confirmed via the Ethics Commission website, point to a clear pattern of what is known as "bundling", a practice by which large donations from a number of donors are sent at the same time to candidates.

Such practices are often employed by special interest groups to support candidates known to support their agendas. The Howie Rich Exposed website discusses his record of supporting candidates who are pro-development, under the guise of "property rights".

When we pulled up Hutson's contributor report, guess what we found?

• 05/16/2008 1,000.00 - 123 Lasalle Associates A Partnership
• 05/16/2008 1,000.00 - Bradford Management of New York Inc.
• 05/16/2008 1,000.00 - Pomerantz, Alan J.
• 05/16/2008 1,000.00 - Rich, Yvonne

When electronic reports were searched on the state Ethics Commission website, these four out-of-state contribution sources all turned up to have made numerous donations to as many as 16 candidates, and have been identifed as part of the "bundling" scheme used to funnel thousands upon thousands of out-of-state dollars to South Carolina candidates.

Voters who are concerned about growth in Dorchester County should be concerned when their Representative is a real estate investor who rakes in big bucks from out-of-state developer interests, while giving them a shallow song-and-dance about their concerns:

"I think people are upset about how their quality of life in Summerville is being changed," Hutson said after the results were announced. "They see the growth out of control and they're insisting on taking charge again. I have recognized, like everybody else in this district, that we need to manage the growth better. We're tired of turning the faucet on full blast without any control."

- Charleston Post and Courier (10/31/2007)

These findings should warn House 94 voters who are concerned about controlling growth that Hutson may not be as virtous, or as honest, as he'd like Summerville voters to believe.

Erickson's "Lauren Gentry bill" moves forward to full Senate

Over the last month or so, the Blogland has taken up common cause with Beaufort County Representative Shannon Erickson, who has been pushing what we've come to refer to as the "Lauren Gentry" bill.

This bill would protect those who are the victims of on-campus intimidation from forfeiting their right to partcipate in school interscholastic teams, should they transfer schools under duress. This bill, HR 4758, would require students to have worked with the system to seek alternatives, including by seeking a formal restraining order.

While we shouldn't have bullies on campus, this bill protects students when our schools can't - or won't - take the appropriate action to protect those students.

Erickson sponsored this bill after Lauren Gentry, a former Beaufort County high school student, was forced to sit out her high school year after getting a restraining order and having to change schools for protection from an angry ex-boyfriend. While this bill comes too late to help Gentry, this young lady has spoken out strongly for this bill.

We want to thank the Representatives who voted 76 to 22 for this bill, and those on the Senate Education Committee, who voted to send this bill to the full Senate.

Sources have informed us that Erickson's bill will make it to the Senate floor today or tomorrow. While we understand this is a busy week for the Senators, we ask them to please take a few minutes of their day to pass this bill, sending it to the Governor's desk, where it is expected to receive approval.

What do an Iraqi woman and Kyle Boyd not have in common?

We were remiss in finding this piece on Ross Shealy's blogsite until we got a call about it tonight, but we laughed our tails off tonight:

One of these two people has definitely voted since 2004 (a photo of an Iraqi woman).

The other one is the voucher candidate recruited to run against Republican lawmaker Carl Gullick of York County.

They then warn us to not try to pull one over on the staff at the Rock Hill Herald. Having worked with Matt Garfield, we tend to agree - these guys do their homework. That tidbit about Boyd is just more proof.

Florence GOP coup in the works?

We have reports that when two Florence County GOP officers arrive at today's state GOP convention, Vice-Chair Mike Reino and Secretary Tommy Grimes, they will be met by the Florence County GOP Chair, Tommy Phillips, who will inform them that he is removing them from their offices.

Our sources inform us that Phillips is justifying this ouster on the basis of the two being elected Sixth District GOP officers - Grimes as District Chairman and Reino as District Vice-Chairman.

If the allegations are true, the next questions that come to mind are:

1) Can they be removed for this reason, and
2) Does Phillips have the authority to act without a vote of the Florence County GOP Executive Committee?

To us, this seems to be a rather mean thing to do, and probably counter-productive. Given the tough fights the Florence GOP will face this fall to hold Phillip Lowe's District 60 State House seat and re-elect their recently-switched Sheriff (their second-ever courthouse officer), the idea of picking fights amongst one's fellow Republicans seems a little short-sighted to us.

If this is really Mr. Phillips' plan, we hope he'll reconsider these plans and seek a solution other than such a harsh and unilateral action.

Support Glenn McCall – our proven Republican leader

It’s no secret that times are tough for the GOP. If you chose any of the following reasons for these troubles, you’d be right:

• Disconnects with voters on today’s key issues,
• A willingness to tolerate criminal and ethical misconduct by GOP leaders,
• Failure to keep up with the Democrats in team-building and fundraising approaches,
• Lack of enthusiasm among the GOP base,
• Poor candidate recruitment, and
• Ineffective and failing party leadership by many.

These are the major problems we see, but they certainly aren’t the only ones.

While things appear bad, sometimes it is when you hit rock bottom that you can truly turn things around. In the race to elect a new RNC National Committeeman from South Carolina is a candidate who will play a major role in turning things around: Glenn McCall.

Presently, McCall is the chair of the York County GOP, which has a thriving and robust party organization, as well as 2nd Vice-Chair of the state GOP. He is employed as a Vice-President of Bank of America.

Glenn McCall has a record of leading and building, and knows the GOP team needs to be broad and bold, in size, perspectives and vision, if it is to build a true and lasting governing majority. Also, it can no longer be a “whites only club” if it is remain competitive and relevant with an increasingly-diverse electorate.

But McCall believes these changes must also reconnect the GOP with its bedrock principles of fiscal conservatism, domestic security, limited and accountable government, and the empowerment of individuals, families and businesses. McCall is someone who believes these things, and he will work hard to make them happen.

In Glenn McCall, we see someone who is strong and assertive enough not to take orders, but is confident enough to reach out and work with others to reach our common goals of peace, prosperity and progress. He won’t take orders from those who have narrow agendas, or as did former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, fail to speak out against those who make a mockery of the GOP by illegal conduct or abandoning key GOP principles. In a party that needs to learn how to fight back, this guy is a fighter.

The GOP has a long road to recovery. As our National Committeeman, Glenn McCall can do much to help with that process. That’s why we’ll be voting for him at the upcoming SCGOP convention, and so should you.

Lauren Gentry bill moving forward in spite of resistance

We want to thank the Senators who unanimously moved Rep. Erickson's Lauren Gentry bill out of subcommittee and up to the full Education Committee ("Representative Erickson's bill shines light on the problem of punks in S.C. schools "):

Reports have come our way that this bill is now facing resistance from officials with the state's High School League, who wants to address this issue administratively, promising they can now address the problem faced by Gentry and too many others without the need for a legislative remedy.

If they could fix this problem, and really wanted to, it would have been done already and Rep. Erickson wouldn't have needed to sponsor the bill. Having failed to solve the problem on their own, they should drop these eleventh-hour delaying tactices and help those, like Erickson, who are trying to do something about it.

This bill needs to be passed, and in this legislative session. No excuses, no stalling tactics.

We appreciate the reception this bill has had in the Senate thus far, and hope the Senators will continue to keep this bill moving forward until it reaches Governor Sanford's desk.

No student should be afraid in South Carolina schools, nor punished for trying to get away from threats to their well-being.

Campaign prank of the year

We saw this video from an Upstate race and were laughing our collective tails off.

Four years ago, Lee Bright came within dozens of votes of ousting an incumbent Senator. This time around, he's facing current State Rep. Scott Talley for the now-vacant Senate seat, and it looks like both sides are going all-out to win the seat.

A recent Lee Bright campaign fundraiser was "crashed" when a boat with a 4x8 sign for Scott Talley floated back and forth offshore of the event. This video shows the unknown Talley supporter having a little fun, as well as Bright taking the whole thing too seriously.

Our advice to Lee Bright - don't get pissed off. Counter-prank 'em. Have a little fun at their expense:

Personally, we recommend sending this guy to board the next Talley boat, or lead a raid:

We don't like sleazy dirty tricks in campaigns, but moments like these provide some much-needed stress relief for both sides. Maybe Bright's people took this too seriously, but we do appreciate them YouTubing this to lighten our day.

Blogland goes to Spartanburg

Yesterday, we visited with the good folks of the Spartanburg GOP for their hospitality at their cookout yesterday, during our weekend on the road.

While there, we talked with a number of people, including Glenn McCall, who was traveling and stumping for the vacant RNC seat, Sarah Knuckles, the new 5th District SCDOT commissioner, our friends Robert and LaDonna Ryggs ... and even Rick Beltram.

We want to thank Rick for not shooting us on sight. We certainly have given him plenty of reason to do so.

It was a great opportunity to talk with our readers, thank them for their support, and get a little chance to peek under the hood of Upstate politics.

More campaign bloopers

We've seen some stupid stuff this election cycle, but this one missed the mark by a couple thousand miles ... literally.

Joshua Gross over at the Columbia Conservative shares an NRA-ILA endorsement piece for Jakie Knotts which opens by supporting a legislative candidate ... in Idaho?!?

If you look close at the image's second line (I zoomed in on the back half) you'll notice they asked the voters of District 23 to "Vote for Judy Boyle". Now, as everyone in Lexington County surely knows, Judy Boyle is running for District 9 in the Idaho House. That happens to be only 2472 miles away from downtown Lexington, according to Yahoo Maps. Here's to hoping Jakie's voters write her in on June 10...

There's more in this mailing, but we don't want to steal all the thunder, so if you'd like a good laugh, head on over to Joshua's blog and take a look.

Lauren Gentry's bill before Senate Education Subcommittee tomorrow

Recently, we sang the praises of a bill by Representative Shannon Erickson ("Representative Erickson's bill shines light on the problem of punks in S.C. schools "):

Erickson submitted the bill in February in response to a case involving Lauren Gentry, a star softball player at Battery Creek High who transferred to Beaufort High to escape harassment from an ex-boyfriend.

The S.C. High School League’s executive committee has twice denied her eligibility to play softball, citing a rule that students who change from one public school to another without a change in address cannot play sports for one year.

The committee ruled in March that Gentry’s case didn’t meet its hardship exemption, and Gentry missed her senior season of softball after being Battery Creek’s most valuable player in 2007.

Tomorrow, this bill goes in front of a subcommittee of the Senate Education Committee, led by Senator Wes Hayes from York County. We understand that Ms. Gentry will be there in person to provide testimony regarding this bill. While it's too late for her, we are proud that she has the courage to continue to stand up for the rights of others who may become the victims of schoolground stalkers.

We know it's late in the session, so we appreciate the willingness of Hayes and his colleagues to listen to the concerns of those who, like Gentry, are being preyed upon by those who should be in jail, not stalking the hallways of our public schools.

We would ask the Senators in this committee to listen to the facts which will be presented to them by Gentry and others, and we hope they will vote to send this worthy bill to the full Senate.

Gullick's challenger confused?

Does he support citizenship for illegal immigrants?

Did he vote to support Mark Sanford?

If you're the guy who is challenging York County representative Carl Gullick, the answer could be yes AND no, depending on when you're asked:

Kyle Boyd, the Christian school leader running to be a "true conservative light" in the state House, says he misspoke Thursday during a candidates forum when he said he supports granting citizenship to illegal immigrants.

Well ... which is it?

Among Boyd's platforms is that Gov. Mark Sanford needs more help to advance his reform agenda.

"He's not being supported like he should," Boyd said Thursday night. "I'm a true conservative Republican."

Boyd hasn't voted in an election since 2004, county and state records show. Sanford has appeared on two ballots in that time, a Republican primary and general election in 2006. Sanford won both contests.

Asked Friday about his absences, Boyd said: "That's a good question. I wasn't able to get away from school, that's all."

A short time later, Boyd re-contacted The Herald to say his recollection had changed and that he did vote in 2006. He declined to elaborate.

(Our thanks to Matt Garfield at The Herald for a good story.)

We guess the guy hasn't heard of absentee ballots? Or maybe he supported the Governor's agenda before he actually voted for it? Sounds a little like John "I was for it, but I was against it" Kerry to us.

We heard this guy was recruited to run against Gullick, but if this is what he can do in two days, we hate to see what the rest of his candidacy is looking like.