I saw something interesting for the first time at that reception Wednesday night — Bud Light in dark red, or perhaps I should say garnet, cans. That was a new one on me and the ad folks I spoke to that night. I asked the guy working the bar what was up with the cans, and he didn’t know; it was the first time he’d seen them, too.
Dozens of colleges are up in arms over a new Anheuser-Busch marketing campaign that features Bud Light beer cans emblazoned with local schools’ team colors.
Many college administrators contend that the promotions near college campuses will contribute to underage and binge drinking and give the impression that the colleges are endorsing the brew. Though some schools aren’t interfering with the promotion, others are demanding that the sales be stopped. With students returning to campuses and the fall football season approaching, the “Fan Cans” are also renewing the debate over the role of beer makers in encouraging college drinking.
Anheuser-Busch responds that the campaign is aimed only at fans who can drink legally and that it has long supported efforts to fight alcohol abuse. It notes that the cans don’t bear any school’s name or logo. And it says it will drop the campaign near any college that makes a formal complaint…
Actually, I thought the cans I saw — which were technically muted red and cream, not garnet and black — looked pretty good, aesthetically speaking (way, WAY better than those tacky LSU cans). Picture it away from the blue carton, which kind of takes away from the effect (I shot this pics on my phone at Food Lion).
But then, I didn’t see them and think “Gamecocks.” If I had, I would have been less enchanted. As y’all know, I take a dim view of anything that encourages kids to drink — something I know that not all of y’all agree with me on.
Maybe this suggests a new standard for legal drinking: How about if we pass a law that if you’re impressionable enough to buy a beer because it has your school colors on it, you should be banned from drinking forever?
Am intrigued by the prospect of Tameika Isaac Devine running for mayor:
… and I find myself wondering, what would be the effect?
We were already looking at probably the most closely contested race since Mayor Bob beat Patton Adams two decades ago, with Steve Benjamin bringing a gun to what is usually a knife fight (or maybe a slap fight, at most).
Several times in the story, Ms. Devine suggests that she still likes her ally Mayor Bob. Which causes me to wonder whether a Devine candidacy might actually have the effect of helping Coble, as it would split the anti-incumbent vote — as well as the presumed “black” vote. And could that even be the strategic intent.
There are other considerations as well. Tameika origninally won citywide office at the head of a coalition of unusual suspects, such as Rusty DePass and other conservative business types. So what dynamics would her candidacy introduce?
Whatever happens, Columbia voters are going to have some interesting choices for once. Who knows? Maybe even some of them will turn out for a change.
I’m not usually one for the whole “news of the weird” shtick, and I leave “Dumb Crook News” to John Boy and Billy. But this is wild enough to pass on, for what it’s worth:
They apparently thought they could hide their identities by spray-painting their faces gold, Richland County sheriff’s deputies said.
But one of two men who targeted the Sprint PCS store on Sparkleberry Lane last month died a short time after the armed robbery — possibly from the paint fumes, deputies said Friday.
Deputies identified the dead robber as Thomas James, 23. His last known address was in Columbia, court records show.
“It’s the damnedest one I’ve ever had in 34 years,” Sheriff Leon Lott told The State on Friday. “We’ve had robbers paint their faces before, but we’ve never had one die as a result of that.”
Didn’t these guys ever see “Goldfinger?” Did they not learn anything? And no, we’re not talking “skin suffocation” here, but still one should have gotten the message, Not a good idea.
The sheriff isn’t sure whether the paint job was intentionally, or incidental as a result of a “huffing” session. I wonder whether the victim of this insanity knew himself which it was. What a waste of life; what insanity.
As I may have mentioned, I’ve done some freelance work recently for folks in the advertising/public relations world, and most recently some friends at a local agency have been letting me use an empty office at their digs, which is really nice.
Even nicer, they invited me to be their guest at a reception given Wednesday (at least I think it was Wednesday; my days are swimming by so) by the Midlands chapter of the American Advertising Federation at Gallery 701. I saw lots of folks I hadn’t seen in awhile, such as a former editor at The State who was laid off with me and is now doing PR work, and newer acquaintances I’ve been getting to know in my new, still largely unformed incarnation.
Fortunately, there were name tags (all of life should have name tags; I’m terrible with names). And these being creative ad folk, there was a participatory theme to the tags. As you can see, they were imprinted with the words “Join. Belong.,” followed by a blank. I was told to fill in the blank with a verb.
Some chose upbeat messages such as “Enjoy” or “Celebrate.” One went existential with “Be.” I was all business. I have one clear goal and aim that I want everyone to associate with me, so I went with that. Maybe a real Madman would have been more subtle, but not me.
Anyway, as they used to say in my former profession, a good time was had by all, and I appreciate being invited.
Y’all remember Christina Binkley. She’s the super-savvy Wall Street Journal columnist who quoted me awhile back regarding key economic indicators (in this case, Ben Bernanke’s beard — don’t ask me to explain; follow the link).
Anyway, today she’s giving advice on how to be unemployed with style, so of course I paid close attention:
Newly Jobless Update Wardrobes, Rein In Resentment and Embrace Punctuation
… In the aftermath of a layoff, style is critical. And it’s about more than the decision to polish a wardrobe. The way people comport themselves after losing a job can make all the difference in what comes next. From how they convey the news to colleagues, to the type of clothes they wear and how they punctuate their emails, the newly jobless must use careful footwork to navigate the job hunt.
When in doubt, it’s a safe bet to retreat to conservative styles. After Michael Bragg was downsized from his New York-based job at a high-end European fashion brand, he went out and bought a new pair of shoes—lace-up, American-made Aldens. Play it straight with email, too. Sure, sometimes it’s perfectly acceptable to shoot off a short, all lowercase missive to a colleague. But punctuation is a risk-free option. The same goes for social-networking. Now is not the time to post pics from a beer-sodden barbecue and share them with everyone in your network….
Good advice, that last bit. Hang on a sec while I go pull a couple of things off of YouTube…
…OK, I’m back. (While I was there, I updated my channel so it no longer says I’m “the VP/Editorial Page Editor of The State, the largest newspaper in South Carolina.” Along with style and attitude, I’m assuming accuracy is also important.)
Back to Christina’s piece today … I hope bud will take careful note of the advice therein. bud doesn’t seem to think I should be wearing clothing that requires dry-cleaning while unemployed. I disagree. Christina’s with me. Folks, I get up every morning, put on my coat and tie (shirt and pants, too — details are important), and go downtown to have breakfast at the usual place (Doug knows where). Only way I know to stay in the game and maintain contacts. To me, networking seems key. Looking like you’re ready to go to work this minute also seems advisable.
As for attitude — I think I’m OK there, too. I didn’t get upset and cuss anybody out when I got laid off. I mean, y’all can go back and see what I said at the time, here and here and here (I even said nice stuff about Mark Sanford). Maybe there will be a delayed reaction sometime, but I haven’t really worked up a good mad yet (which is actually sort of out of character for me, but there it is). I guess as a vice president of the company I understood the situation too well. Thirty-eight people were getting the ax that day, and they needed some of them to be top management. I got picked (and had the honor of being the one mentioned in the news story). Way of the world. Stiff upper lip and all that. A chap must face facts, and other pseudo-British mumbo-jumbo…
So I’m doing everything right. Of course, it hasn’t produced full-time permanent employment yet, so after a few more dry-cleaning bills maybe I’ll try bud’s approach, but for the moment I still think Christina knows the score.
… to which I automatically responded, “Is that a promise? Are you sure? You’re not just teasing? All right! When do we get started?”
We’ve heard a lot of silly back-and-forth about health care in recent weeks, but this is the first time I’ve heard anyone suggest the one thing that makes the most sense to me: Blow up what we’ve got entirely and start over.
As my long-time readers will know, even back when I HAD good conventional health care coverage, I was agitating for this. Why? Because as I documented in this column and this one and elsewhere on the old blog, most folks who discuss the health care problem in this country focus on the wrong thing. They focus on the people like me who no longer have private employer-provided health care (although for a limited time I have access to the same care via COBRA thank God, at just under $600 a month — to go up over $1,500 after December, if I’m lucky).
But the real problem is that (note the numbers in my parenthetical above), medical coverage has gotten way too expensive even for the lucky ones who have it — and certainly far too expensive for the businesses that try to provide it.
My problem with Obamacare all along has been that the president is too timid on this subject, and this is not a situation for tiptoeing. This nation desperately needs a do-over on the way it pays for health care, because we are paying too much for results that just aren’t good enough for an advanced nation.
So thank you, Sen. DeMint, for getting the conversation started in a more productive direction. Even if you didn’t mean to…
That’s just the punch line that my old buddy Michael Feldman is using on current promo spots for his show on public radio.
I pass it on because it provides a measurement of just how much of an automatic laughingstock we have become in South Carolina, thanks to the tireless exertions of our governor. You don’t even have to say “Mark Sanford.” You can just refer to him indirectly, at a step or two remove (in this case, the only connection is that he was until recently a fellow member of the same group to which ex-Gov. Palin still belongs, which I suppose we could describe as “marginal people whom the national media have inexplicably decided to regard as serious contenders for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination”), and still get a laugh.
Also, the last few days I’ve started camping out in an empty office at a local ad agency, which I will not name at this time in order to protect the innocent. The president of the company is a friend who is trying to help out, and who also thinks some synergy might emerge from my hanging here; I might have some ideas that could be helpful to some of his clients. Hasn’t happened yet, but I just started this Monday.
I haven’t actually given the synergy thing much time to work, though, as personal business has called me away from the office in the middle of the day each of these three days so far. Monday and Tuesday it was fun stuff — I was watching the twins back at my house. (So if I write about that, does that make this a “Mommy blog?” Or maybe a “Mr. Mom blog…”)
But today, I’ve got to be back at the house by 2 p.m. because of something that is pretty much the opposite of fun. My wife says the people she called out to find out why the sump pump under the house has been running constantly recently have told her that we have a burst water line under the master bedroom, which has been liberally spraying the underside of our floor and apparently done all sorts of damage. So I’m meeting plumbers, and then I’ll have to meet insurance adjustors, then contractors, then who knows?
When it rains, it pours. Even upside-down, under the house.
You know what? I’m starting to wonder how I ever found time to hold a full-time job in the first place…
Today, at the suggestion of my unemployment caseworker, I went to the job fair out at Fort Jackson. It was mainly for prospective employers to talk to military personnel thinking of entering the civilian workforce, but civilians such as myself were welcomed as well.
This was my first job fair ever, and although I had been warned not to expect much (my private outplacement advisor said the next client of his who got a job from a job fair would be the first), I found it to be enjoyable and rewarding. I talked to a lot of nice folks from a variety of companies and agencies, and may actually have gotten some leads on a job.
In the small world department, I had a nice time talking with Steve Kelly from the State Department (there’s a foreign service exam coming up in our area in October, and I may take it), who worked for The Charlotte Observer long ago, and who knew some folks I know — such as Carl Stepp from Bennettsville, whom I had just e-mailed earlier this morning to see how he was doing (after running into someone who mentioned him at a restaurant last night).
But the most fun part, which I share in the video above, was the gadgets and toys that the prospective employers brought with them.
Seriously, I passed out a few resumes and business cards, and collected cards and brochures from:
OK, on that last one, I just got some info on how to find out when there would be a Tupperware party in my area. But with the others, I plan to follow up and explore the job opportunities on their Web sites.
Next week, I intend to attend a job fair at the state museum. But I doubt it will top this one for cool gadgets.
Well, the rumors I was hearing at the Jim Rex event last week turned out to be untrue — Harry Ott is not running for governor. Instead, he’s backing Vincent Sheheen:
OTT BACKS SHEHEEN IN RACE FOR GOVERNOR
“I believe it’s time we elect a governor we can all be proud of…
Vincent Sheheen is that person.”
St. Matthews, SC – Following his announcement over the weekend that he would not run for governor, House Minority Leader Harry Ott announced today that he is endorsing state Senator Vincent Sheheen in the race for governor.
“South Carolinians are yearning for a trustworthy, hard-working governor – one who can build the coalitions and provide the leadership necessary to address the challenges we face,” said Ott. “On the issues that will define the success or failure of our next governor – particularly creating good jobs and revitalizing our public schools – Vincent Sheheen is the candidate with the independence, experience and vision to move South Carolina forward.”
Ott and Sheheen served together in the South Carolina House from 2001 – 2004. Since 2004, Sheheen has served in the state Senate, where he represents Chesterfield, Kershaw and Lancaster counties.
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Vincent over the last decade and I believe, without a doubt, that he and I share a common vision of what South Carolina can be with the right person at the helm,” Ott continued. “Vincent has a longstanding reputation for forging partnerships and getting results. And perhaps most importantly, he believes deeply, as I do, in the value of our public schools and knows that they are the cornerstone for economic development and job creation.”
“South Carolina is at a pivotal juncture,” Ott said. “I believe it’s time we elect a governor we can all be proud of – one who has the character and integrity to help this great state find its way again. Vincent Sheheen is that person. I am excited to endorse Vincent Sheheen for governor of South Carolina, and I will work to help him get elected.”
This seems a good call on Rep. Ott’s part. The field was crowded enough, and he didn’t want it badly enough to claw through all that, from what I could tell at the one campaign event I heard him speak at.
This is good news for Sheheen, as Harry Ott is the sort of Democrat who pulls toward the center, and whoever gets the nomination will need that kind of appeal in November 2010. (Of course, the big question is always whether primary voters will have the sense to appreciate that.)
Just got a release today from the state Chamber announcing that “The deadline is extended until August 31, 2009 for companies to nominate their business for the Top 25 South Carolina Fastest-Growing Companies program.”
That’s the good news. The bad news is that not one of them made the top 500. The highest on the list was Customer Effective, a Greenville IT services company, at No. 541 on the list.
Anyway, it’s nice to know some part of the economy in South Carolina is actually growing, so congrats to Customer Effective and the other 30 growers. It will be even nicer when some of us find jobs as a result of said growth…
Just when you thought there weren’t any ways left to look at the Sanford scandal, along comes the Vogue treatment of Jenny Sanford as the wronged woman America loves and admires most.
The glamour shot above is just the beginning. An excerpt:
Early this past summer, just as the world was savoring the news that yet another conservative Republican politician had tumbled from grace in a manner worthy of the best French farce—“hiking the Appalachian Trail” will never have the same meaning—there emerged an unlikely hero in the mess down in South Carolina. Petite, clear-eyed, strong-willed, pious without being smug, smart without being caustic, Jenny Sanford became an unlikely heroine by telling the simple truth. Her children were the most important thing in the world to her. She had kicked the lying bum out of the house when he refused to give up his mistress, but marriage is complex, life is hard, and if he wanted to try and make the marriage work, the door was open.
Her one-page statement saying as much was written without the help of spin doctors or media consultants. It came from her heart and her head. It mentioned God without making you squirm. The world took note. Newsweek dubbed her a “media genius”; The Washington Post hailed her as “a new role model for wronged spouses.” On television, Diane Sawyer called her classy, praising her “grace in the glare.” While her husband was giving overly emotional press conferences about soul mates and impossible love, Sanford kept her mouth shut and her head down. Just as the scandal was finally dying down, she agreed to sit with Vogue and set the record straight about what really happened in the low country of South Carolina….
… to which I can only say, which is it, Vogue — “hero” or “heroine?” (I would recommend the latter, but then I’m such an unreconstructed language chauvinist.) I knew that newspapers were short on editors, but Vogue?…
Remember when I did that freelance gig for The New York Post back during the week of all the Sanford craziness? I covered the press conference (THE press conference, the one where everything came tumbling down) for them and worked some sources for a couple of days.
Thing is, I’ve never gotten paid for that. Finally, I think we’ve got that worked out — I may receive a check in the mail today — but before it got totally resolved, I just wanted to use that headline, because it amuses me. (I’m hearing it in the voice of Bill Murray in “Stripes,” saying to the cute MP outside Gen. Barnicke’s house saying, “Barnicke? Barnicke?! He still owes me money. Hey Barney?…”)
Once the check has been deposited, Rupert will be my bestest buddy. And it will make me feel a bit better when someone calls me from the Post for guidance on the Sanford saga (as someone did just a few days ago — the day Jenny moved out of the mansion, in fact).
If I continue in this freelance floater mode much longer, I may need to have to hire somebody to be my collector. I’m used to just getting a paycheck and not thinking about it. Dunning people is tiring work, and I think I’d prefer to outsource it. Not my core competency, and other business cliches, yadda-yadda …
After the long drive yesterday, we sat down to watch “Frost/Nixon.” Tired as I was, I doubted I’d make it all the way through, but it was riveting. Michael Sheen seems to have quite a career going playing real-life figures from recent history (he’s known for his portrayals of Tony Blair in both “The Queen” and “The Deal.” I gave both those films four stars in the Netflix rating system, and now I’ve done the same for “Frost/Nixon.” Frank Langella is of course lugubriously fascinating as a Nixon more nixonian than the original.
In fact, if there’s anything that’s a letdown it’s the realization, when you watch the supplementary material on the DVD, that the original interviews weren’t as colorful or dramatic. In fact, the original Nixon was cooler, and less interesting, than Langella’s version.
You might also find James Reston Jr.’s over-the-top liberal hostility to Nixon tiresome, but it’s a pretty fair representation of the way a lot of people felt and acted at the time. And Ron Howard effectively made fun of that excessiveness with the bit when Reston meekly shakes hands with the president, right after insisting he’d do no such thing.
It’s also very interesting as an evocation of a time I’d almost forgotten. You have to remind yourself watching this just how remarkable it was for the worlds of entertainment and politics to overlap this way back before 24/7 TV “news.” It really took me back to those days, when I was a copy boy at the Commercial Appeal in Memphis the night of Nixon’s resignation, and the managing editor sent me to the composing room to have them blow up the words “Nixon Resigns” as big as it would go across the whole front page — back in a time when that sort of flash in print was also unusual.
Just got back home after driving up to Pennsylvania yesterday and back to Columbia today. I’m decompressing from the pressure. After all, 273 miles of today’s 573-mile haul were spent in Virginia, where we faced the threat of immediate annihilation from the air if we went a little too fast.
I don’t really know how else to take these signs you find throughout the state. They don’t say that you are monitored from the air or anything, they say the speed limits will be enforced from the air, which I can only imagine being done with air-to-ground missiles, or maybe one of those remarkable machine-cannons they have in the A-10 Warthog that fires like 4,000 depleted uranium rounds per minute.
Anyway, I feel lucky to be home. And I’m too tired to blog. I’ll just update you with my Tweets from the way up and back:
About to drive to Pennsylvania again today, and boy does the weather ever look dirty to the north…8:45 AM Aug 14th from web
Germany and France have pulled out of recession, but US and UK lag. Let’s get it in gear, Anglophones…8:59 AM Aug 14th from web
Stopped for a few minutes at the Barnes & Noble in Harrisonburg, Va., again. Gotta get back on 81 and flog that Yaris on up to central PA…5:57 PM Aug 14th from web
“Magical Mystery Tour” on the CD player, cruising up the valley…6:01 PM Aug 14th from web
I’ve been driving all day; my hands wet on the wheel. Literally — I’m not paraphrasing lyrics. Don’t know why my palms are sweating so…7:20 PM Aug 14th from web
Unless I’ve made a miscalculation, this rental Yaris is getting 43.599 mpg!7:23 PM Aug 14th from web
I’m in Carlisle, PA, home of the US Army War College, the place that launched Jim Thorpe, and home of a top ballet academy. A town of im …about 22 hours ago from web
… Meant to say, “…a town of impressive parts…”about 22 hours ago from web
Another cool thing about Central PA — I sat outside a country house near Carlisle & enjoyed a leisurely beer under the crisp stars: not …about 22 hours ago from web
(Cont.)…not one mosquito bite in the wonderfully cool night air…about 22 hours ago from web
About to eat at my favorite place in PA — the Middlesex Diner, with those nice, fat sausages & home fries!about 13 hours ago from web
Man, but that Central Pennsylvania breakfast was good! About time to mosey back to SC now…about 13 hours ago from web
Glittery-clean rest area in Virginia — literally. They’ve got like flecks of mica in the floor…about 10 hours ago from web
I converted this to black and white as a cheap and easy way to eliminate red-eye (note the otherwordly gleam in Bud's eye as he introduces Rex).
Tuesday was so eventful in the contest for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010 that I didn’t have time to write about everything that happened.
Not much to report. Rex says he’ll decide whether to run for governor either the first or second week in September, but of course, he was sounding very much like a candidate. If he gets in, he’ll run hard and Bud will no doubt help him do so, although it won’t be end-all and be-all for him. As his wife, Sue, noted to me, Rex has had a full career or two. He came out of retirement to run for superintendent (his first elective office), and while he gives it his all, he could always go back to retirement with a sense of fulfillment.
Consequently, don’t expect him to come out swinging against anybody the way that Vincent did in reaction to Dwight (or the way someone with apparent links to Mullins McLeod has done more indirectly, but more forcefully). He’s low-key, and prefers to stay away from such stuff. As he made a point of saying, “People are sick and tired of partisan, negative politics.” Not that I would put what Vincent did in that category; I think it was perfectly within the bounds. So does Dwight, for that matter — “He’s got to do that,” he said of Vincent today. But Rex probably won’t.
What else can I tell you, aside from how muggy it was? Well, I could tell you who was there. A partial list: Hayes Mizell, Rep. James Smith, Chris Vlahoplus, Charlotte Berry, Joe Berry, Barbara Rackes, Mike Mann, Raúl Fernandez-Carreras, Sally Huguley, Ted Riley…
… but don’t attach too much significance to any of those names; they weren’t all there because they’re supporting Rex. James Smith, for instance, is a Vincent Sheheen man all the way. There are few allies closer that those two and Joel Lourie. But as James had told me previously, he wrote a check for Rex — and wrote on the check that it was for his re-election campaign as superintendent. And he reiterated that upon his arrival at Bud’s. He and his lovely wife Kirkland had come to be sociable (and, in a sociable sort of way I suppose, check out the opposition).
While I did see at least one couple drop an envelope into the bin set by the front door, I think a lot of folks were there just to see what was happening. And to talk politics (there were rumors that yet another Democrat might run for governor, but I haven’t had a chance to check that out yet. If true, it would surprise me — although not as much as Dwight did.)
I, of course, was there in my usual mode of disinterested observer — which I always have to point out to people these days. Although I didn’t have to tell Zeke Stokes. When someone asked a question that he thought bore a little too intimately upon the not-yet campaign’s strategy, he begged off by saying “Brad Warthen is here,” so he at least still sees me as a journalist.
Best quote of the night, in response to a question about whether he would appeal to moderate Republicans and independents (which Rex noted he did already in winning in 2006): “I have become the darling of the NRA.” I believe that was intentionally ironic; he was just saying he hopes for diverse support (and that he agrees with the NRA that kids need to get into the outdoors more).
That’s about all, except to say this continues to be very interesting…
Lately, I’ve had a streak of bad luck with my dry cleaning. First, the collar of my good blue blazer got messed up — lost its shape, become all puffed up or something (hard to describe). I took it back, and they kept it for awhile before telling me there was nothing they could do about it.
Then, they shrank the pants of a seersucker suit. Maybe the jacket, too, but definitely the pants. I just had them taken out a year or so ago and they fit perfectly just before I took them to the cleaners. Now the waist is tight, and that pulls the cuffs up toward my ankles.
Both the blazer and the suit are from Lourie’s, and therefore irreplaceable. Not that I have any money for buying new suits anyway.
Now, my OTHER seersucker suit needs cleaning. It was really steamy warm at Bud Ferillo’s house the other night when I was there for the Jim Rex fundraiser (which I still need to blog about, I just realized), and you know, even in seersucker, if it gets hot enough a gentleman will perspire. It was a very Old South experience.
But I’m afraid to take it to my usual cleaners.
Do you have one to recommend, one you really trust?
Having been out of town over the weekend, I didn’t see this until now. But now I’m glad I resolved to read the papers I’d missed over lunch today, because otherwise I would have missed this in Kathleen Parker’s Sunday column:
WASHINGTON — Maybe it’s the dog days, but three friends recently got in touch within a 24-hour period to catch up. Or more like it, to catch their breath.
One reported the onset of panic attacks. Another is seeking treatment for depression. The third began an e-mail asking for help with: “Reports of my employment have been greatly exaggerated.”
The first two were women, 40-something and 50. The third is a man in his 50s. They all have one thing in common: No job….
The “man in his 50s” is me. Considering the circumstances, I suppose I come off all right — as the stiff-upper-lip sort who has preserved his sense of irony. I almost sound cool in the face of unemployment. I’m not sure what I and the other two friends have to do with the people who’ve been disrupting town hall meetings — which Kathleen goes on to opine about — but I appreciate the mention. Maybe she thinks I might go to a town hall meeting and make oblique little wisecracks based on literary allusion, thereby messing with everybody’s heads. And now that she’s given me the idea…
Anyway, that little play on Mark Twain — “Reports of my employment have been greatly exaggerated” — is from a semi-form letter I’ve been sending out to a lot of friends. I realized late in the summer that a LOT of folks thought I had found permanent employment. This was not a good thing for me, because it meant I had lost the edge I had in March.
In March, I was fortunate enough to be laid off in a VERY public way — in one version of the first day’s story on thestate.com, I was the only one of 38 people being laid off to be mentioned by name — and under circumstances that generated a lot of support for me in my search for new employment. But my good luck in quickly finding some temporary contract work unfortunately made a lot of those people, who were all willing to augment my own eyes and ears in my job search, to think, “Oh, he’s OK now.” Whenever anybody ASKED me, I’d tell them no, I DON’T have a full-time, permanent job yet. But I didn’t start actually systematically contacting people to tell them this until the contract ran out on June 30 and I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands.
Anyway, here’s the latest version of that note that I send Kathleen and others, minus a passage with contact info I’d rather not share THIS broadly:
August 12, 2009
Dear Friend [except that I always sub in the actual name of the friend],
The rumors of my employment have been greatly exaggerated.
Like most of my friends and acquaintances, you probably know that I was laid off in March from The State, where I was a vice president and the editorial page editor. This happened as part of a trend of severe cutbacks at the paper, and throughout the newspaper industry, with which loyal readers are sadly familiar. I had the honor of being the person most prominently mentioned in published reports about that round of layoffs (that is, of course, until the departure of my far more talented and popular friend and colleague Robert Ariail was announced).
The outpouring of support and even affection that I have experienced since then has been gratifying and humbling.
What you may not know is that I’m still looking for a job, and more urgently than ever.
Yes, I’ve done some temporary communications consulting work that was very satisfying, and which helped me slow down the expenditure of my severance pay. But as I have explained all along to friends who heard about that and congratulated me on having landed a job so quickly, the contract ran only until June 30 – which a glance at the calendar will confirm has come and gone.
Now I’m back to job-hunting full-time, and I could use your help.
So if you know of a good job to which you think I would be suited – or if you know of someone else who might know of such a job – I would greatly appreciate a heads-up. And while full-time employment is my goal, until I find it (and perhaps even after I do), I’ll be very interested to know about any free-lance or part-time consulting work that might be suited to my skills. What skills? Well, I’m hoping in particular to make use of my communication skills, my knowledge of South Carolina and my understanding of public policy.
Finally, I’d like to hear from you whether you have any tips to pass on or not. My e-mail address is brad@bradwarthen.com…. When you have time, please visit my blog, https://bradwarthen.com/.
Thanks for reading this far, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Brad Warthen
I’ve heard from a lot of people, and some of them have offered some really thoughtful advice. Following up on the leads has kept me fairly busy, although not quite as busy as I want to be. So I keep sending out the updates, and keep hoping — and do a little freelance work here and there as occasion offers.
Vincent Sheheen hasn’t wasted any time pointing out new contestant Dwight Drake’s vulnerabilities. Dwight did a conference call with journalists at 1 p.m., and at 3:24 Vincent sent out this:
Sheheen’s Statement on Democratic Primary
Camden, SC – State Senator and Democratic candidate for governor Vincent Sheheen today issued the following statement regarding the Democratic primary for governor:Which candidate can return trust to the governor’s office? That is the ultimate question that South Carolina voters must decide.
“In the South Carolina Senate, I have focused on fighting the special interests and insider politics that too often control our government in Columbia at the expense of the people. Whether it be predatory lenders, big tobacco companies, or environmental polluters, I have been willing to stand up to them — and stand up FOR hard-working South Carolinians and our families.
Next year, we have the opportunity to end business as usual and elect a new governor who will put the people of this state first. South Carolinians deserve a state government that will reward their faith and hard work with good jobs and strong public schools.
Democrats in South Carolina must make a statement about the values of our party and of our state. The future of the Democratic Party and the quality of our state government in South Carolina is at stake.
In this election, Democrats must carefully choose a candidate who represents our values and the values of South Carolina. We must make a new start, with a new direction and vision to rebuild our state. This is our chance and we cannot afford to miss it.”
You know the wild rumors that led to me being asked whether I was running for governor, at the behest of Jim Hodges and Dick Harpootlian? Apparently, the candidate that rumor was really about was Dwight Drake. (UPDATE: Jim Hodges just told me he’s not backing Dwight or any other gubernatorial candidate — yet.) This is not as shocking an idea as it being ME, but it’s still pretty wild and surprising. Dwight’s done well — very well — working the corridors of power without being the front man, so this is quite a step for him.
In fact, if you drew a spectrum of political figures in terms of their effectiveness with lawmakers and put Mark Sanford on one end, Dwight would be on the other. He’s the anti-Mark Sanford, whether you see that as good or bad.
Dwight F. Drake is a partner of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP in Columbia where his practice focuses on government relations, legislative issues, and disputes involving government contracts. Maintaining an active litigation practice, Mr. Drake regularly argues before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Since joining the firm in 1983, Mr. Drake has been at the forefront of every significant issue considered by the South Carolina General Assembly — from tort reform to the Economic Development Bond Act. Additionally, he has held numerous positions in firm leadership and management.
In 1981, Mr. Drake was named Lawyer of the Year in Government by American Lawyer, and he is widely recognized for his prominent role in governmental and political arenas. Mr. Drake has twice received The Order of the Palmetto, the highest honor bestowed by a Governor of South Carolina. Mr. Drake’s successful litigation practice led to his selection as a permanent member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference, and his advocacy skills are valued by legislative and litigation clients alike.
Mr. Drake served as a member of the Hodges for Governor Transition Committee. Prior to joining the firm, he served as Executive Assistant for Legislative and Political Affairs for South Carolina Governor Richard W. Riley. Mr. Drake served as legal counsel to South Carolina Governor John C. West.
In 1972, Mr. Drake earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law where he was president of the Student Bar Association and held membership in Phi Delta Phi and the National Moot Court Team. Mr. Drake earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia in 1967.
Later today, I’m going to a fund-raiser for Jim Rex, and see what’s going on there. But it’s clear that this election is shaping up as the opposite of 2006 for Democrats. Then, no viable candidate stepped forward, and that party ended up with Tommy Moore. This year, you have have a statewide name in Rex, an idealistic young reformer in Sheheen, and the ultimate get-it-done guy Drake. Meanwhile, the party is keeping up a steady pounding on the likely GOP candidates, hitting them with Sanford like battleships softening up the beach with artillery before an amphibious landing.
2010 is going to be very different for South Carolina.
Oh, and just so you have all the details, here’s Dwight’s announcement:
Dwight Drake Announces Run for Governor to Get South Carolina Working Again
Drake Led Efforts to Bring BMW to State and Protect Public School Funding,
Will Keep Working for Jobs and Education as Governor
COLUMBIA – Dwight Drake, an attorney and experienced public servant with a long record of fighting for job creation and improved public education, announced today that he will run for Governor of South Carolina as a Democrat in the 2010 election. Drake announced his candidacy in a video emailed to voters across the state and posted at http://www.DwightDrake.com. [NOTE FOR TV PRODUCERS: Broadcast-quality versions of the video are available for digital download at http://www.box.net/DrakeAnnouncement.]
“We need to get South Carolina working again,” said Drake. “The past eight years have been wasted, and South Carolina is now first in unemployment in the South. Mark Sanford made a lot of news when he disappeared this year, but he’s been AWOL on jobs since the day he took office.
“I know from my experience working with two Governors who made education and jobs their priorities – John West and Dick Riley – and working to bring BMW to South Carolina, what it takes to create good-paying jobs in our state.”
Drake has been a tireless advocate on behalf of education and job creation in South Carolina. He headed up the successful, bipartisan effort to attract BMW to locate in South Carolina and later to expand their operations in the state, resulting in more than 15,000 new jobs for South Carolinians.
Drake also helped lead Choose Children First, a coalition of business leaders, lawmakers, and supporters of public education who came together to defeat Governor Mark Sanford’s attempt to drain money away from public schools with a voucher program.
Most recently, Drake represented South Carolina students Casey Edwards and Justin Williams in their legal fight to force Governor Sanford to accept federal funds for economic recovery and to put that funding to work for South Carolina’s public schools. Both students appear in Drake’s announcement video and speak about the work he did to make their victory possible.
Drake’s years in public service include serving as legal counsel to former Governor John West and as former Governor Dick Riley’s top legislative aide, where he helped pass landmark legislation, including the Education Improvement Act, as well as efforts supporting early childhood development and state government reform.
Drake’s first priority as Governor will be bringing jobs to the state, after years of neglect by Governor Sanford.
“The first thing a Governor should do when he wakes up in the morning is think, ‘What can I do today to bring good jobs to South Carolina?'” said Drake. “And the last thing he should do at night is ask himself, ‘Did I do enough today on jobs?’
“My mother and father taught me always to tell the truth and do my best. Well, the truth is we’re not doing our best in South Carolina. That’s why I’ve decided to run for Governor.”
Dwight Drake is a native of Spartanburg County, where his father worked in the mills and Drake joined him to help pay for his college education. He is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam, and he earned his law degree from the University of South Carolina. Drake lives in Columbia with his wife Beth, a federal prosecutor, and their two daughters, Marshall, 12, and Eliza, 9.
Drake will hold a press conference call at 1:00pm TODAY to discuss the announcement of his candidacy for Governor.
WASHINGTON — Maybe it’s the dog days, but three friends recently got in touch within a 24-hour period to catch up. Or more like it, to catch their breath.