A Gresham Barrett supporter whom I respect and trust has taken me to task for some of my recent comments about the gubernatorial hopeful, as follows:

Brad –

Hope all is well. I think you know that I have a great deal of respect for you, but some of your recent posts criticizing Gresham have irked me a bit. Tonight, after reading your latest entry, somethings occured to me and because I respect you, I felt compelled to share these thoughts with you.

How many times have you covered any of his speeches or events since the one interview you conducted with him nearly a year ago which you cite as the primary source of your impression of Gresham? How many times since then have you asked him a single question?

I think if you were to ask anyone actually following the race on the gop side which candidate has the most detailed policy and vision for the state, the overwhelming majority of respondents would say Gresham Barrett.

Now, I’d agree that we have some defining to do and since the press corps in sc has shrunk considerably in the past two years that’s proving more challenging than in previous campaigns.  But thankfully because Gresham has articulated a clear vision for leading an economic revitalization in SC, more than 3000 individuals and businesses have invested in his campaign, so we’ll have the resources needed to spread his message through paid media.

Anyhow, I hope you’d consider these points and I hope you’ll remember I’m always available if you’re looking for comment or just info on the campaign. Thanks for hearing me out.

Thanks,

To some extent, I must accept service on that. And indeed, if I were to undertake to write another column about the congressman, I would certainly want a fresh interview with him, just for starters. But I haven’t undertaken that, or anything like it. All I’ve done is note, a couple of times now, that the impression I’ve gotten from this candidate (and yes, the interview last March played a role in forming that impression) is that he’s not giving us a lot to go on in terms of what he wants to accomplish as governor.

But I accept service because of a small bit of insecurity I have as a mere blogger who is no longer editorial page editor of the state’s largest newspaper. It occurs to me that maybe I’m just a little out of the loop now, and need to take more overt positive steps to stay IN the loop. Before, the info just flooded across my desk. Now, that happens some, but not in the same volume. In the past, I was able to assume that if the candidate had suddenly become Mr. Policy, I would know it. Now, I’m not as sure of that.