We had another knotty question come up before the editorial board this morning that we just couldn’t settle, so we had to move on. It was this:
Why is Darrell Jackson going out of his way to praise Andre Bauer, even to the point that Sen. Jackson, a Democrat, says he will support the Republican for re-election?
We don’t have a clue. Of course, next time I see Darrell I’ll ask him (I did see Andre today, but I don’t think he’s the right one to ask). And if this were a column instead of a blog tidbit, I’d bother to call him. But just sitting around wondering, we couldn’t figure it out. The reasons he gives in his op-ed piece don’t answer the question; they are insufficient to explain a phenomenon as unusual as this.
(Some who don’t understand how we work might ask, How come you ran it if you don’t know what motivated it? My answer would be, Duh. It was interesting. And it disagreed with something we had written, and pieces like that — when interesting — have a certain priority. What’s odd here is that the motivation is usually obvious to us, and this time I’m mystified.)
I mean, set aside the party differences. Senators don’t go out of their way to praise lieutenant governors — Andre or anybody else. When they take notice of them at all, it’s usually to take away one or more of the few powers the rather useless office possesses. A lot of people don’t understand this, but to South Carolina state senators, there is no office above them. Not the governor, and certainly not the gov lite. One of the shocks of recent years has been the deference Glenn McConnell — who in the past has seemed affronted any time a governor presumed to exert any kind of influence on the governing process — has shown toward Mark Sanford.
Anyway, if you have a workable theory about it, share it with me. And if it makes sense, when I next see Sen. Jackson, I’ll ask him whether you’re right.
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Sen. Jackson was a name that was given to me that might be helpful in this school assistance thing. That was the first time I heard of him, so that shows you how much I know about it. And about all I know about Andre Bauer is is famous speeding ticket(s?).
I did have enough minute knowledge to be surprised when I read that this morning, though.
But Brad, the best part of the paper today was your picture, except that I wouldn’t have recognized you without the title.
Why is Sen Jackson on Andre’s side? Because he isn’t an idiot like your editorial board. If you had done any research, you would realize that many Democrats (especially senators) support Andre for re-election. In his first re-election event, several senators that include liberal senators were hosts for the event.
If your newspaper would get out of its “bubble,” then you would realize that Andre has done many good things for the state (tax increase blocks, seniors and law enforcement), in addition to him being a friend of Columbia. Get your heads out of your ______ and start realizing what the actual sentiment towards Andre is.
Obviously, you don’t know what you’re talking about, Pres.
It’s absolutely beyond the realm of possibility for the editorial board to be "an idiot." We would have to be SEVERAL idiots.
Be precise.
I knew you would write something about that.
Why is it that everyone described as a “friend to (insert parish, city, state name here)” is usually quite the opposite?
The only working theory I could concoct is that this is further evidence that both political parties are melding into one–the incumbent party. But, I admit that’s too simplistic and a bit too Rush-ed (or Jason Lewis-esque).
Besides, I haven’t pulled for an Andre since Wrestlemania 11.
Make that Wrestlemania III, for precision’s sake.