Just now saw this e-mail from Rob Godfrey with the McMaster campaign:
Brad,
I realize you may not be in the loop, on top of the news or very well informed about the gubernatorial race these days, and that’s why I always hesitate to respond to anything that shows up on your blog. But I did want to point out that the Boiling Springs Tea Party endorsement of Henry was released both by the organization itself and our campaign before anyone knew anything about Sarah Palin’s trip to South Carolina. Thanks.
Rob GodfreyMcMaster for Governor
I immediately suppressed the irritation one would naturally feel at a complaint worded that way. I decided not to take his opening words as being deliberately insulting or anything like that.
Instead, I immediately acknowledged his point and promised to pass it on to my readers here on the blog. (Golly, I’m grown up — don’t you think?) Since I was seeing it all on Friday, I had failed to notice that the item on the campaign Web site and the Tweet that drew me to it were both dated the 13th — the same day as Nikki Haley’s announcement that Sarah Palin was coming to endorse her. I was certain, there for a moment, that he was wrong, because I was sure that when I saw that Tweet it was only one or two down on his Twitter account — but I guess they don’t post that often, because sure enough, it was the 13th.
So, sorry about that. Of course, it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve known for some time that Nikki has been pulling out all the stops to be THE Tea Party candidate. Nor does it change my long-standing disappointment with Henry for refusing to distance himself from his party’s recent drift to the fringes — for, instead, pursuing them with his outrageous rhetoric about those “radicals” in Washington destroying our American way of life. And I realize that this would be most irritating to one in the trenches trying to get Henry elected. If I were on his campaign, I would be really ticked at someone like me. I would see that person as “out of the loop” to the extent that he was unrealistic about what it takes to get nominated in a Republican primary. I mean, doesn’t that washed-up, clueless Brad Warthen understand that Henry is the best of the Republicans, that he’s really a Graham Republican instead of a DeMint Republican, even if he dare not come out and say so right now?
Thinking about it, imagining that point of view, I almost get mad at myself.
In fact, I AM mad at myself for getting the sequence of events wrong, and attaching importance to it. And I’m truly sorry.
Related Posts
If this is what the McMaster campaign calls “public relations,” I wonder for the future of civil discourse if he gets elected. Henry may be many things I don’t care for, but he is *always* well-mannered.
I mean, “Brad, you ignorant slut, we understand that you are kind of out of it, so let us spell it out for you very slowly…” Golly.
That email deserved an immediate reply of “I guess I’d be more in the loop on your boss if he didn’t run campaign ads referencing Ronald Reagan. It aint 1984 sonny”
Dear Lord, now we have two candidates that are running against Obama for the Governor of South Carolina. First Barrett, now McMaster is campaigning against President Obama for the leadership of South Carolina.
Kathryn, that “Saturday Night Live” translation of McMasters PR jerk is funny!
Sometimes the real problem is that the people on the inside are the myopic ones. Anyone who says a Rupublican candidate HAS to vere off into the kudzo beyond the highway drainage ditch just to get on down the road to the general election is pea-brained.
So there’s not much likelihood that your smooth retort will alter the trajectory of at least this one campaign. But I wish you best of luck; for all of us.
Lastly, I was struck when I saw the Ronald Reagan ad; I see no problem in trumpeting one’s accomplishments, even at the beginning of a career. It sure beats ranting about radicals in Washington.
To the people who support Nikki Haley’s politics, Sarah Palin is just what the doctor ordered.
Those of us who think Sarah Palin is an intellectually barren demagogue who is damn proud of that fact weren’t likely going to vote for Nikki Haley, either.