If we do see a runoff between Thomas Ravenel, with 48 percent of the vote, and Rick Quinn, with 19 percent, this will be an ugly couple of weeks.
The animosity between those guys was clear, both during the debate — at times, it seemed like Greg Ryberg and Jeff Willis weren’t in the room — and in an interview after.
This is a previously published capsule from our May 24 interview:
Why did Thomas Ravenel, most recently seen running for the U.S. Senate in 2004, enter
the GOP race for state treasurer at the last minute? “I like (state
Sen. Greg)Ryberg,” but “I feel like he can’t win.” Why? “I didn’t
think he’d get off his wallet,” he explained. “I felt like (former Rep.
Rick) Quinn was gonna win.” And as those who saw Messrs. Ravenel and
Quinn go at each other in last Sunday’s debate know, that wouldn’t suit
him at all. Sen. Ryberg’s off his wallet now, to the tune of $2 million
of his own money, but Mr. Ravenel is spending right back at him. (Asked
if he would promise not to quit mid-term to run for the Senate again,
he would say only, “I promise not to spend 36 of the next 40 years as
treasurer.”)
And that establishes two things: For Ravenel, running was about stopping Quinn, and apparently also about positioning himself to run for the Senate in two years.
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I kinda like the idea of a Ravenel win, of course I may have prejudice since Thomas is a relative.
I’m very sorry to read that, Viet. My condolences…
I guess that’s how you’re forced to roll, yo!
Racism is ugly
“Since 70% of black children have only one or no parents, I know those biological parents don’t care.
Do you think they care enough to be hunted down and asked for input?” – LEE
“the majority of Hispancis are illegal aliens” – LEE
Please don’t present multiples of the same Lee-hating comments on different posts. At least post something original each time you Lee-hate.
We know Lee is an idiot. We’ve been here awhile. This isn’t news.
That’s how he rolls. That’s how Lee rolls.
Point taken Capital A, I’ll quote Lee’s racism more judiciously.
Since the last vote indicates that Quinn doesn’t have a snowball’s-chance-in-hell of winning, I hope that he does get a chance at the runoff.
A chance to-
– waste his GOP supporters’ money and Ravenel’s;
– make both Ravenel and Quinn look bad in the eyes of the voters before the general election; and,
– infuse even more bad blood amongst the Republican movers and shakers.
I suggest another debate with just Quinn and Ravenel. Texas death match.
Break out he popcorn!
Huh, don’t restrict yourself to Lee’s racist comments. There’s plenty of other idiocy to cite.
Both Quinn and Ravenel lost 2 years ago and suddenly they are both interested in this position…or simply in a position.
That’s how he rolls. That’s how Lee rolls.
Posted by: Tim
I’m still laughing at that Ravenel comment. What a twit.
I don’t like either one of them, so I’m planning on voting Democrat for that position. Unless the democratic opponent is worse than either of those two (pretty hard to imagine, but given the state of SC politics, not impossible), in which case I’ll write in someone.
“You knife me, I’ll knife you back.”
Ravenel to Quinn during televised debate. Ugly is right.
I think Patterson has done a pretty good job– his office hasn’t been political, and he seems focused on the job. So there’s a good, time-tested alternative in this race.
Sorry for the off topic comment, Brad, but why do you let idiots like Tom Turipseed have space on your editorial page?
Ravenel just wants to be elected – any office is fine.
Being treasurer isn’t anything he cares about.
That is why I didn’t vote for him. Well, that is one reason I didn’t vote for him. There are many I could list.
Tom probably wonders why I give space to Friedman or Brooks, or Kathleen Parker.
We try to have a little of everything.
I just want to make sure y’all saw this development.
It would soooo make my day if Willis creamed Ravenel. Please, please, please, let it be.
My theory is, if Ravenel gets popped on the nose with the paper often enough, he’ll quit running and go back to his hidey-hole.
Ravenel double-crossed Ryberg. Now rumors have it that he plans to run against Lindsay Graham in two years. What goes around comes around.
If Ravenel wins the runoff, and I regretfully concede he probably will, then I hope the voters of SC are smart enough to see through him and give Patterson another term.
I understand why Warthen gives Cabbage Head Brooks and Friedman space. They’ve got the seal of approval from the NYT.
Parker, OTOH, is a mere freebooting, rightwing, kultur warrior hack.
Brooks’ piece today (Friday, 6/16) is particularly laughable. I wonder which side– populist nationalist or progressive globalist– would the authoritarian oligarchs fall into.
His conception of a “progressive globalist” is a joke. He totally ignores the fact that most “globalists” are totally driven by the value of their multinational’s stock or the maintenance of U.S. political/economic hegemony. There is no room in globalist’s world view for “progressive” values– notwithstanding Freidman’s quaintly naive views.
Ready to Hurl,
When you get your opinions on such matters posted somewhere other than The State blog page, someone will take them seriously. Well, maybe they will.
I enjoy David Brooks.
In fact, I enjoy reading various opinions on the editorial pages. Keep running them.
David, same back at you.