Category Archives: Democrats

The rush begins for Jim Harrison’s seat

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Tyler Jones brings our attention to the above placeholder page indicating Joe McCulloch’s jumping into the melee to replace Rep. Jim Harrison.

Boyd Summers, who ran against Jim several years ago (a video clip from his endorsement interview has the distinction of being one of the first two — tied with Harrison’s — I ever put up on a blog), is almost certain to get into it. If I see him at Rotary today, I’ll try to confirm.

According to The State, we might see the following as well:

Yo, parties: Neither of you holds a monopoly on Truth, OK?

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Today’s news from OFA, which stands for Obama For America (but always makes me think of that thing that Greeks say when they party):

OBAMA FOR AMERICA LAUNCHES THE TRUTH TEAM TO PROMOTE THE PRESIDENT’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND HOLD REPUBLICANS ACCOUNTABLE

Chicago, IL – Today, Obama for America announced the launch of the Truth Team, a new national effort by President Obama supporters online and on the ground to promote the President’s achievements, respond to attacks on his record and hold the eventual Republican nominee accountable.  More than a million people took action as part of the Fight the Smears initiative during the 2008 campaign; the goal of the Truth Team is to double that number, reaching two million grassroots supporters who will communicate the President’s record and fight back against attacks before the Democratic National Convention this fall.

Beginning today with events across the country and continuing through the election, the Truth Team will engage grassroots supporters to spread the truth about the President’s record and respond to Republican attacks.  The program will be housed at BarackObama.com/TruthTeam, with individual websites –KeepingHisWord.com, KeepingGOPHonest.com, and AttackWatch.com – serving as quick, comprehensive resources to help set the record straight.  Designed to put responsibility for spreading the truth in the hands of the President’s supporters, the websites contain videos and information on the President’s record, and fact checks on Republican claims about the President and themselves.  The sites also contain tools for sharing materials via Facebook, Twitter and email, and empowers supporters to take further action by volunteering, writing letters to the editor, sending postcards to undecided voters with information about the President’s record, and more.  The goal is to ensure that when Republicans attack President Obama’s record, grassroots supporters can take ownership of the campaign and share the facts with the undecided voters in their lives.

Republican Super PACs have committed to spend a half billion dollars on negative ads to defeat the President.  But from the start, the Obama for America campaign has relied on grassroots supporters to spread the truth, and today’s announcement builds on and expands that effort.

Truth Teams will be announced today in many states including Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Wisconsin with events being held in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.  National supporters including the National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and the United Steelworkers Union (USW) will be participating in this effort.

To find out more about the Truth Team, please visit: Barackobama.com/TruthTeam

I really, really don’t like this kind of stuff. Yes, tell your story; argue your case. But I detest this “truth squad” nonsense that both parties have engaged in since at least the ’80s. It says “our party is the source of truth” and “the other party speaks nothing but lies” and must be “held accountable” them. This stuff oozes from the core of the rottenest assumptions that underlie hyperpartisanship.

I expect better than this from the president. The Republicans have been painting him already (with very thin justification) as having gone back on his promise to rise above such things. The best way to give the lie to what they’re saying is to avoid stuff like this. He is rightly held to a higher standard, because he set the standard himself.

My first memory of encountering this sort of thing was in 1988, at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta. Then-Gov. Carroll Campbell and other Republicans took turns holding press conferences at an off-site location in the city, and they called it “truth-squading.” This year, we saw practically daily press availabilities held by the Dems in an effort to grab some of the attention being devoted to the Republican primary here in SC.

Not that the Obama people aren’t providing true information, often in reply to some pretty silly nonsense on the other side. But that is often the case. I remember when Campbell appeared in Atlanta, the point was made (either by him or by Tucker Eskew or someone, I forget) that he took almost no security with him, while Lt. Gov. Nick Theodore had taken a small army with him to the convention. Which was true. You should have seen their communications center in the hotel.

But the thing that really gets me is this “truth” rhetoric that they wrap it in.

Yes, I realize each side believes that what it has to say IS the truth, while the others sit on a throne of lies. But they’re both wrong. They need to cut back on the hubris, and those of us in the middle would be more inclined to listen.

This is what I was warning about, people

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It was Tuesday when I warned that the unnecessarily-fanned flames of several Culture War flashpoints threatened to make this into the kind of presidential election I detest — one that consists entirely of yelling about social issues (about which no one changes anyone else’s minds, which makes them ideal tools for infuriating the base and raising money to keep the pointless partisan strife going), rather than talking about issues more central to the job of president, such as foreign affairs, national security and the economy.

Now, it seems the MSM is catching up with me. This AP story was on the front page of The State this morning:

WASHINGTON — All of a sudden, abortion, contraception and gay marriage are at the center of American political discourse, with the struggling — though improving — economy pushed to the background.

Social issues don’t typically dominate the discussion in shaky economies. But they do raise emotions important to factors like voter turnout. And they can be key tools for political candidates clamoring for attention, campaign cash or just a change of subject in an election year.

“The public is reacting to what it’s hearing about,” said Andrew Kohut, president of the Pew Research Center. In a political season, he said, “when the red meat is thrown out there, the politicians are going to go after it.”…

Precisely. And on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, also this morning:

In a year where the economy was supposed to dominate the November elections, the contraception backlash showed that social issues could have a powerful influence on the race. Republicans used the controversy to paint Mr. Obama as assailing religious rights—and adding another black mark against the 2010 health overhaul that spawned the policy….

Yep. That’s what I’ve been on about.

In any case, you were warned of it here first. And of course, the 137 comments on my previous post (so far) are indicative that even smart people, such as you, my readers, can’t resist rising to such bait. What hope do we have that the rest of the country will let it go, and allow us to return to more relevant (to the job of president) issues?

Forget Ferris Bueller. Zais was absent 29 days

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Edward R. Rooney would forget Ferris and his measly nine absences if he had Supt. Mick Zais in his school, according to this report over at Palmetto Public Record:

South Carolina Superintendent of Education Mick Zais took twice as much personal time during 2011 as the average state employee is allowed, according to an exclusive look at the schools chief’s schedule.
Zais’ personal calendar, which was made available to Sen. Phil Leventis (D-Sumter) through an open records request in November and later obtained by Palmetto Public Record, shows that Zais took 234 hours of personal time (the equivalent of 29 full workdays) between Jan. 12 and Nov. 17, when the schedule was turned over to Leventis. That number doesn’t include medical leave, of which Zais took the equivalent of six workdays during the same period. The schedule also doesn’t include the final five weeks of 2011, when Zais may have taken even more personal time for the Christmas holidays.

In sharp contrast to Zais’ considerable number of absences, a state employee with 10 or fewer years of experience is allowed 15 days of personal leave per year — about half of what Zais took during the 44 weeks covered in his schedule.

Education Department spokesman Jay Ragley said the state superintendent, as a constitutional officer, is held to a different standard than regular employees. “Because of their unique status in state government, constitutional officers are presumed to be on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are not allotted sick days or annual leave time as standard state employees accrue,” he said…

Democrats are making a big thing of this. I got this link from an advisory from Phil Bailey with the Senate Dems (under the headline, “Senators to Discuss Zais’ Truancy”), telling me that Sens. Leventis and Brad Hutto are having a press conference to talk about it at 3 today at the State House. No, I don’t know why Sen. Leventis didn’t bring it up in November, when he got the info.

SC Democrats tout latest employment figures, give Obama the credit

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Rep. James Smith, Mayor Steve Benjamin and Councilwoman Tameika Devine gathered at Main and Gervais today to celebrate the latest employment figures.

Here’s a quote from the release that summoned me to the windswept presser (sorry about the sound quality):

When the President took office, we were losing more than 700,000 jobs a month. The economy was spiraling out of control, and the economic security of millions of middle-class Americans was vanishing. Now, the private sector has added more than 3.7 million jobs, the American auto industry and the more than 1.4 million jobs it supports were saved, and manufacturing is creating jobs for the first time since the 1990s. But the President didn’t just address the immediate crisis and stop there.  He began to lay a foundation for a stronger economy across the country so such a collapse can never happen again.

This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and we have a lot more to do if we’re going to continue the trend we’ve seen for the last two years. That’s why the President has outlined a vision for an America built to last.  It’s a blueprint based on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers and a renewal of the American values that made our nation’s middle class the envy of the world – values like fairness and opportunity.

Mitt Romney and Republicans in South Carolina don’t share this vision.  He doesn’t think we should invest in our workers, our students or American industries like carmakers and clean energy. He doesn’t think that we should be rewarding companies only when they bring jobs back to states all across the country, not when they send them overseas. And just as baffling, Romney and the Republicans don’t even admit that this reversal and recovery is happening.

Today, Democrats are embracing the fact that in January, unemployment plummeted to its lowest point in three years. Here’s a copy of the chart they’re standing next to. Meanwhile, some of their detractors are saying that a record number of people dropped out of the workforce that same month.

So I guess you pick the stats of your choice, according to your predilections.

For my part, I told James after the event, all I know is that Obama was inaugurated, and six weeks later, I was laid off. I guess that makes me a tough audience. 😉

But seriously, folks, whoever can claim credit, I’m glad to see promising signs, and look forward to when everybody’s doing as well as they did before 2008.

Translate, please: Is that some sort of threat?

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So what do you think this other former speaker is saying about Newt Gingrich when she says, “There is something I know.”

Taegan Goddard over at Political Wire says, “It doesn’t seem like Pelosi is bluffing” when she says that.

But it seems to me it could be read two ways:

  1. She’s saying there’s a deep, dark secret, yet unknown except by her, that will do in Newt in a fall campaign.
  2. She’s simply emphasizing that, based on what is already widely known — especially among those who served with him — she knows that he won’t be president.

Which do you think it is? Or is it something else? Or nothing?

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney says he sure wishes he knew what that secret was. I’ll be he does.

And Gingrich’s reaction is pure Newt:

She lives in a San Francisco environment of very strange fantasies and very strange understandings of reality. I have no idea what’s in Nancy Pelosi’s head. If she knows something, I have a simple challenge: Spit it out.

Purple states smarter than reds and blues

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At least, that’s the uncomfortable conclusion of blue-state writer who wanted to prove that such folk were smarter than red-staters:

To get to the bottom of things, I had my assistant Una dump McDaniel’s state IQ numbers into a spreadsheet, weight them by population, and then divide them into three groups: red for states consistently choosing Republicans in the last three presidential elections; blue for always voting Democratic; and purple for swing states.

Result: average IQ for red states vs. blue states was essentially the same (red 99, blue 99.5). Conclusions: Are liberals smarter than conservatives? Some social scientists sure think so. Are blue states smarter than red states? Sadly for us cyanophiles, no.

But here’s the most significant data point, I think: in the purple states — the ones that swung back and forth — the average IQ according to Una’s spreadsheet was 100.9, appreciably above that for either the blue states or red states. In other words — and this has the shock of truth — the people in the purple states weren’t rigidly liberal or conservative, but rather had enough on the ball to consider the choices before them and occasionally change their minds.

So, it comes down to what I’ve been telling y’all over and over: We swing voters are the people who actually think about our votes. It stands to reason that places where we predominate would be smarter.

I’ll bet his assistant, Una, is one of us. Bet she’s good-looking, too.

This inspires a possible tagline for the UnParty: “We’re way smarter than the rest of y’all.”

OK, so it could use some work. For instance, the word “y’all” might be over the heads of folks in blue states.

But it’s a start…

Democrats STILL beating up on Romney

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This continues to be fascinating. As I’ve mentioned over the last couple of days, the Democrats have conducted an unprecedented campaign to discredit Mitt Romney in South Carolina, utterly ignoring Newt Gingrich as he caught  up and passed him.

Now this, shortly after Gingrich was declared the winner:

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s Statement on Results of South Carolina GOP Primary

SOUTH CAROLINA – Tonight, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement on the results of the Republican primary in South Carolina:

“If tonight proved one thing, it’s that the central rationale of Mitt Romney’s campaign is cratering.  He came into South Carolina  with a 20 point lead – a state where jobs and the economy is the number one issue – and the candidate who hung his entire candidacy on these issues, Mitt Romney, saw his support collapse.

“Why?  Because Mitt Romney’s been exposed as being out of touch with the middle class, and voters are seeing that he lives by another set of rules. He’s refused to level with voters, and now he’s in trouble.  Anyone who goes into a state with a significant double digit lead yet ends up losing that support in a week, is someone who is failing to connect.

“Voters in South Carolina saw that Mitt Romney has no core values, and that he will say anything to get elected.  He’s been exposed as having plans and policies that would keep his taxes low, and make them even lower, while doing nothing for the middle class.  The people of South Carolina also began to see what Romney’s brand of free enterprise really is: destroying companies and jobs to enrich himself while working families suffer.  Tonight, they rejected it.  At the end of the day, voters want someone they can trust, who shares their vision and who understands their plight.  And they are finding that Mitt Romney is not that person.

“Regardless of who becomes the Republican nominee, all of the candidates in the race support the failed policies of the past that drove us to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  That’s not what the American people want, and that’s why they know that the clear choice in this election is President Obama.”

###

Wow. Did the head of the DNC just call Newt Gingrich “someone they can trust, who shares their vision and who understands their plight.”

What’s up with these people?

Democrats continue to ignore Newt, attack Mitt

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Republicans are so busy jumping on the Gingrich bandwagon at the last minute that they aren’t taking time to notice what I pointed out earlier today: Apparently, Democrats are completely fine with having Newt as their opponent in the fall. It’s Mitt Romney they worry about, which is why they continue to engage in the rhetorical equivalent of carpet bombing of the former Massachusetts governor.

Take a moment to read these comments from former SC Gov. Jim Hodges at a press conference in Columbia this afternoon:

Thank you for joining us.

Last night we heard closing arguments from the remaining Republican Presidential candidates before South Carolinians head to the polls.

Sadly, with less than 24 hours to go before voting begins South Carolinians remain left in the dark about Mitt Romney’s real record.  Exactly when will we get to see his tax returns? He didn’t say.  Exactly how many jobs were created during his time as CEO of Bain Capital? Again more of the same evasive answers we’ve all heard before.

Since Mitt Romney wouldn’t come clean with South Carolinians about his real record as a corporate buyout specialist or about exactly how he made his millions or how much he’s invested in overseas tax havens while paying a lower tax rate than middleclass Americans – I’ll set the record straight today.

Last night Mitt Romney again staked his entire candidacy on his “real world experience” as CEO of Bain Capital, this time claiming to have created 110,000 jobs. He again struggled to provide any proof to back up his claims.

That’s because the truth is Mitt Romney spent more time bankrupting companies, outsourcing jobs and laying off workers than creating jobs-all while making millions for himself and wealthy investors.

If South Carolinians want to know the truth about Romney’s “real world experience,” look no further than his time as Governor of Massachusetts.  Ask yourself what the people of Massachusetts got for Mitt Romney’s service.  Mitt Romney didn’t say it last night but I’ll say it here.  During his time as governor Massachusetts was 47th out of 50th in job creation and manufacturing jobs were loss at twice the national rate.

He railed against government investments to help grow the economy and create jobs but didn’t mention that Bain Capital frequently received subsidies and tax breaks from state governments.  Let’s take Staples, a supposed success from Romney’s time at Bain.  In touting Staples, Romney never mentions that in 1996, Staples chose to move its distribution center to Maryland in exchange for a $4.2 million subsidy deal – the same type of subsidies Mitt Romney says he’s against.

He again dodged questions on when he would release his tax returns, again defying a standard practice that all previous presidential candidates have followed – including his own father when he ran for President in 1968.  When asked if he would follow his father’s example and release multiple years’ returns, Mitt Romney couldn’t shoot straight with South Carolinians – only offering an awkward “maybe.”

What’s he hiding?  Why does he feel South Carolinians can only know what’s in his tax returns after they have cast ballots?  Here’s what we know without seeing Mitt Romney’s taxes and there is a lot South Carolinians have questions about.

We know that Mitt Romney has invested millions of dollars in offshore tax havens that have cost the federal government about $100 billion every year.  We know that despite being a quarter-billionaire, he pays a lower tax rate than most middle class families.

What else will we find out when, and if, he finally releases his returns?

Mitt Romney has given voters plenty of reasons not to trust him while making plenty of far-right promises to the Tea Party.  A political stunt that will weigh him down in the general election where we see already he has begun hemorrhaging support from moderate and independent voters.

It’s time for Mitt Romney to level with South Carolinians and finally get the message that he can’t play by a different set of rules when it comes to his record or his taxes.

Now think about this: If you were commenting on the day after Newt Gingrich stole the show at the Charleston debate, and your comments purported to be a reaction to the performance of “the remaining Republican Presidential candidates” in that debate, don’t you think you’d at least mention Gingrich in your remarks? You would. Unless you had reasons not to.

The reason, I believe, is that Democrats are completely unworried about Gingrich being the GOP nominee. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if they welcomed the prospect.

Hey, Gingrich supporters: Whom do you suppose the Democrats really, really want to run against?

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In the past week alone, I have received 35 email releases from Democratic Party sources — the Obama re-election campaign, the DCCC, the state party — attacking Mitt Romney with everything the Dems can think of to throw at him. There have been videos, and ICYMI links to media stories, and — this is the biggest category — releases about press conferences being held by prominent Democrats to attack Romney. Some sample headlines from the releases:

  • ROMNEY’S RECORD IS HARMFUL TO THE MIDDLE CLASS
  • The Truth About Mitt Romney and Bain Capital
  • Mitt Romney no job creator, says a man who knows
  • Statement by South Carolina State Representative Bakari Sellers on Mitt Romney’s Vision of Free Enterprise
  • TODAY: Democratic National Committee Southern Caucus Chair Gilda Cobb-Hunter Holds a Media Availability on Mitt Romney’s campaign through South Carolina
  • TOMORROW: Maryland Governor and DGA Chairman Martin O’Malley and SC State Rep. Terry Alexander to Hold Press Conference on Mitt Romney’s Real Record in South Carolina
  • ICYMI: JON HUNTSMAN ON MITT ROMNEY
  • NYT Editorial: Taxes and Transparency
  • ROMNEY’S REASON FOR OPPOSING THE BUFFET RULE AND CLOSING TAX LOOPHOLES IS FINALLY CLEAR – HE’S BENEFITING FROM THEM
  • WHAT TAX EXPERTS ARE SAYING ON ROMNEY’S CAYMAN ISLANDS INVESTMENTS
  • WaPo: Romney’s tax problems just won’t go away
  • TODAY: Former South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges and DNC Executive Director Patrick Gaspard to talk about Mitt Romney’s Real Record in South Carolina

And so forth and so on.

At the outset of all that, I received a release telling me it was coming:

DEMOCRATIC COUNTER-PROGRAMMING.  Democrats plan what they are calling a “full-time presence” in the Palmetto State this week, starting today. Democratic Governors Association Chairman Martin O’Malley and Democratic National Committee Communications Director Brad Woodhouse will react to the GOP/FOX News Debate on Monday in Myrtle Beach with a 2:00 PM press conference at the Breakers, one on one interviews with national cable outlets and local and national newspapers before and after the debate.  DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Vice Chair and Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak and DNC Executive Director Patrick Gaspard will all be in the state later in the week to offer their perspective on the GOP race.
The DNC says it will be “using a new visual to tell the story of Mitt Romney as the incredible shrinking job creator.” View it here: http://bit.ly/x9nvFZ

That sort of made it sound like the Dems would be commenting on the whole GOP field. But it’s been pretty much all Mitt, all the time.

Occasionally, there’s a Democratic Party release about something else — maybe two or three in the whole week. But of those, only one is even indirectly about Newt Gingrich: A release from Dick Harpootlian demanding that Attorney General Alan Wilson investigate Lt. Gov. Ken Ard for writing an endorsement of Gingrich on official stationery (except that Dick spelled it “stationary”) “with his seal attached.”

And I think you can fairly say that that one was about Ard, not about Gingrich. There has not been a single Democratic press release, that I’ve seen, that directly attacks Gingrich the way all of those others attack Romney.

The unrelenting hammering on Romney has continued yesterday and today, even as it has become increasingly clear that Newt Gingrich has pulled ahead of him, and has the momentum going into Saturday.

A week ago, or a little earlier, this campaign made all the sense in the world. It seemed obvious that, having won in Iowa (as was then thought) and New Hampshire and comfortably leading in the polls in South Carolina, Mitt Romney was definitely going to be the guy that Barack Obama would face in the fall.

But the situation is very different today.

Now… I can think of four possible explanations for Democrats continuing to pursue this course:

  1. The Democrats are too stupid to figure out that not only did Romney not win Iowa, all the signs now point to Gingrich winning in South Carolina.
  2. They’ve figured it out, but they’re just not nimble enough to change directions on the fly, and don’t want to waste all those nonrefundable plane tickets or write new scripts for the press availabilities.
  3. They know Gingrich has the momentum in South Carolina now, but they are convinced that whatever happens here, Romney will still be the nominee.
  4. They really, really want Newt Gingrich to be the guy they face in the fall, so they’re continuing to hammer the only guy who can deny him the nomination.

What do you think it is?

Energy Party position on Keystone pipeline

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Meant to post about this yesterday, but there’s just so much going on…

You know the Democratic position on the Obama Administration’s rejection of a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. And you know the Republican position.

But what, I’m sure you’re wondering, is the Energy Party position? It’s not all that complicated. You can break it down into three elements. The Energy Party:

  1. Wants this project to happen. Not for the jobs everybody is talking about, although the jobs are great. Encouraging the development of domestic, or at least friendly, sources of energy is key to the nation’s strategic security, and therefore of the highest priority to the Energy Party.
  2. Is deeply disappointed that the permit has been rejected at this time. Were this decision to stand, it would be bad for the nation. Fortunately, there appears to be time to reconsider, as there are other obstacles to the project that will take time to work out.
  3. Is much encouraged that the permit was not rejected on the merits. The fact that the president cited a technicality — Congress not giving enough time to properly consider the permit — is highly encouraging. Maybe he can turn this around and get it right.

See how matter-of-fact things can be when you’re not blinded by the ideology of either the left or the right, and you don’t care whether Democrats or Republicans have the upper hand?

Historic national milestone: Americans more disgusted with Congress than ever

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This just in:

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that a record 84 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, with almost two-thirds saying they “disapprove strongly.” Just 13 percent of Americans approve of how things are going after the 112th Congress’s first year of action, solidifying an unprecedented level of public disgust that has both sides worried about their positions less than 10 months before voters decide their fates.

It has been nearly four years since even 30 percent expressed approval of Congress, according to the Post-ABC survey, and support hasn’t recovered from the historic low it reached last fall.

In the face of the public dismay, House Republicans and Senate Democrats are fashioning less far-reaching agendas for the year ahead, in part to avoid the bitter political showdowns of 2011 and also to best position themselves for the fall elections…

So basically they’ve decided, “The country is right where we want it. No need to do anything else. Let’s sit back and let the voters reward us by re-electing us.”

Some of y’all were urging me to run for office earlier today, although perhaps ironically. Is this the moment for the UnParty to make its move, at long last? That “unprecedented level of public disgust” sounds like a call to arms for somebody, anyway.

OK, THIS is the Harpootlian I know

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We didn’t have to wait long for a release that addressed MLK day more in the style of the Dick Harpootlian we all know:

Fellow Democrats,

On the day that the country and the state of South Carolina celebrate the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Republican Governor Nikki Haley chose to break bread with Texas evangelist, David Burton, who has fought to take all reference to Dr. King out of the Texas public schools text books.

He not only disrespects Dr. King, but he uses Jesus Christ to justify every far right position that he can dream up.

Poor judgment and disrespect, two character traits we have come to expect from Republican Nikki Haley, and she has met our expectations once again.

Call her office at 803-734-2100, and tell her that her actions are disrespectful.

If you want to learn more about the man who Nikki Haley believes was worthy of celebrating her Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with, watch below…

I have to say that I watched that video and didn’t get out of it what Dick said was there. It was too incoherent. See what you think. But at least the world has resumed its normal shape.

Who are you, and what have you done with our Dick Harpootlian?

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The Dick Harpootlian we thought we knew.

This probably won’t strike anyone else as ironic, but it’s just weird for me to read something from Dick when he’s in a reverential mode:

Fellow Democrats,

Yesterday was the birthday of a renowned American visionary. He changed the way people look at humanity, and we will never forget his courageous fight for civil rights.

Today we thank Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for teaching us that everyone is equal, and nonviolent methods develop the most admirable outcomes.

He was one of the greatest orators in American history and we will never forget what he did for our country.

Please take this day to offer service to your community; giving back to your neighbor just as Dr. King intended.  By doing this, we are allowing his legacy to continue to flourish today and for many years to come.

– Dick Harpootlian, SCDP Chairman

Just doesn’t sound like Dick. He’s widely believed to have only two gears: wiseacre and ticked off. Yet here’s a third…

This is what I’m talking about, Bud

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Bud continues to think that I’m just making it up about Democrats being capable of the same kind of pointless, bad-faith partisanship as Republicans.

As I said in a previous thread, Republicans introduced partisanship to South Carolina, by definition. Republicans like to say that before they came along, we had a “one-party state.” But really, it was a no-party state. When there is only one party, it isn’t a party, in the sense that we have in these partisan times. You have factions (the “Young Turks,” the Barnwell Ring, contention between House and Senate, between Lowcountry and Upstate), but you don’t have the foolishness of an idea being rejected or embraced purely according to whether it has a D or an R after it.

Republicans therefore introduced partisanship, and they relished the role. They really, really got into it.

For awhile, Democrats didn’t. They seemed confused. They were so fecklessly live-and-let-live while the GOP was eviscerating them, it was sort of endearing.

But then, Democrats started to learn partisanship from the Republicans, and some of them have gotten pretty good at it.

Want an example? See this release I got a few minutes ago:

Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and State Elected Officials to hold Press Conference to Welcome Mitt Romney to South Carolina

State Senate Democratic Leader John C. Land, III and State Representatives Todd Rutherford and Bakari Sellers to join Clyburn and Benjamin at the State House

Columbia, SC –On Wednesday, Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn, Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin and State Elected Officials will hold a press conference to welcome Mitt Romney to South Carolina ahead of the state’s primary on January 21st. It’s time South Carolinians get to know the Mitt Romney who has proven he’ll say anything to get elected, admitting this week that he likes “being able to fire people who provide services to me,” pretends to know the fear of pink slips, and misleads voters on his record of job creation.

The central question of this election is who will restore economic security for the middle class. Mitt Romney believes America should join a race to the bottom based on loopholes for corporations, millionaires and billionaires and outsourcing of American jobs.  Romney believes that Wall Street should be able to write its own rules again and pursue whatever means necessary to create profits regardless of the consequences for middle-class families.

WHO:

Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn

Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin

State Senate Democratic Leader John C. Land, III

State Representative Todd Rutherford

State Representative Bakari Sellers

WHAT:
Press Conference Welcoming Mitt Romney to South Carolina

WHEN:
Wednesday, January 11th at 9:45 AM

WHERE:

South Carolina State House

First Floor

Columbia, SC

Note that they are not “welcoming” Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich or Jon Huntsman. There’s a reason for that. The reason is that they believe (as do I) that Mitt Romney will be the eventual nominee. And then just can’t wait for the general election to launch into the partisan back-and-forth.

Give it a rest, guys. There will be plenty of time for this stuff later. We know you’re Democrats. We know you want to attack this guy. But let’s go ahead and have our primary first, OK?

You know what this reminds me of? It reminds me of when I was covering the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta, and Carroll Campbell came to town to crash the Democrats’ party and hold a “truth squad” press conference. I was like, come on, governor, save it for your own convention. But Campbell was an intensely partisan man, who didn’t care to give Democrats a chance to have their say without interrupting. I thought that was completely unnecessary.

Well, this is like that.

Sheheen named as one of 12 to watch nationally

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Vincent Sheheen in 2010 with his dad, Fred, and the last Democratic candidate for governor to do better than he did.

Vincent Sheheen in 2010 with his dad, Fred, and the last Democratic candidate for governor to do better than he did.

I was shocked, shocked, to see that Governing magazine named Sen. Vincent Sheheen one of its 12 legislators to watch in 2012:

Sen. Vincent Sheheen exceeded all expectations in his 2010 race for governor. Running in a strongly Republican state in a strongly Republican year, he lost to Nikki Haley — who attracted considerable national media attention — by just four percentage points. An effective legislator, he had sponsored 18 bills that became state law prior to his gubernatorial campaign.

Sheheen, whose father was a state education commissioner, served as a city prosecutor and a state representative before winning election to the Senate in 2004. “Sheheen represents the pragmatic tradition of South Carolina found in dynamic leaders such as former U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings and former U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley,” says Andy Brack, publisher and columnist of StatehouseReport.com.

He is widely expected to run again for higher office. “Sheheen remains a public critic of Gov. Haley, which may help explain her rather extensive out-of-state fundraising during her first year in office,” says Jack Bass, a College of Charleston political scientist.

Why was I shocked? Because I thought it was some sort of physical law of the universe that national media were incapable of acknowledging Vincent’s existence.

Over and over, we heard (and still hear) about the terribly exciting miracle of the Indian-American woman who won the GOP nomination in our state, and then went on to be elected by the skin of her teeth, garnering a small percentage of the vote than any other statewide Republican in a huge year for Republicans.

Not once did I see even a hint of that sort of interest in the first Lebanese-American Catholic nominee in state history — who did better than any Democrat since Jim Hodges won, by hitching his star to a state lottery, in 1998.

Until now.

Why stump for Romney in NH, rather than SC?

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Speaking of releases from the SC Democrats, they just put out the above video, with this comment from Dick Harpootlian:

Instead of rolling up her sleeves and getting to work on South Carolina’s problems with jobs, education, and taxes, Nikki Haley is jetting to New Hampshire to play politics and mingle with the national press and pundits. It’s clear Nikki Haley is already done with all of us here in South Carolina and is planning her national political career. I hope she’ll bring us back a t-shirt that says “Nikki went to New Hampshire and all I got was this lousy tee shirt (and a lousy Governor).”

Aw, come on, Dick! The T-shirt gag has been done to death, and you just used it awkwardly to boot.

Anyway, the conclusion I draw from the video is that the Dems are driving to drive a wedge between our governor and her Tea Party fans, who are already less than enchanted with her over her support of Mitt Romney.

Beyond that, I find myself wondering — if she wants to campaign for Romney, why doesn’t she do it right here at home, with our primary coming up on the 21st?

Could it be because she’s worn out her welcome with many of the voters Romney needs to charm down here, while she still continues to get a free ride, and hagiographic coverage, from the national media — thereby making her more valuable far from home?

I don’t know. I doubt Mitt is that hip to the situation in SC. But it would be interesting if that’s what his campaign is thinking.

Just watch your language this time, young man! Boyd Brown, 25, to respond to State of the State

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Coming up to bat for the Democrats -- Boyd Brown.

This just in from the SC Democratic Party:

Columbia, SC — This morning, the South Carolina Democratic Party announced that State Representative Boyd Brown of Winnsboro will deliver the Democratic response to Nikki Haley’s 2012 State of the State address.

Wonder why someone this young (he turned 25 right after I took the picture above) and inexperienced has been chosen? There is a clue in what Chairman Dick Harpootlian has to say about Boyd: “Whatever he says in his response, I’m certain it will be straightforward and hard-hitting.”

That’s what Dick likes. The fact that he didn’t think another young man (although much older than Boyd), Vincent Sheheen, would be hard-hitting enough is what sent him looking for an alternative in the run-up to the 2010 gubernatorial election.

For his part, Boyd seems eager to oblige, saying:

For years, South Carolina Democrats have taken a passive role in holding the Republican leadership in South Carolina responsible, those days are over. I will not rest until the Nikki Haley-culture of corruption, lies and scandal have been swept out of the corridors of the Statehouse. South Carolina families deserve better than what they have been given, and that truth-telling starts now. I hope you’ll tune in to our Party’s response.

Yeah, well… you just watch your language this time, young man… ya hear?

In the views of some of my cartoonist friends…

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When I received the above cartoon from Bill Day, it caused me to go look for Robert Ariail‘s latest on the subject (more or less).

There’s an interesting area of agreement there — interesting because, given their political predilections, Bill would welcome the idea of the GOP being led into obsolescence, while the idea of Obama being the beneficiary would be distressing to Robert.

Politics aside, I hope this New Year will be a great one for both of these guys. Which reminds me: It’s past time Robert and I got together again at Yesterday’s. I need to find out when he’ll be in town…