Democrats aren’t saving their ammo for the fall when it comes to the superintendent of education race. Here’s a broadside they fired via e-mail today at Karen Floyd (a pretty interesting one, actually):

From: Patrick Norton
Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 1:50 PM
Subject: Floyd Significantly Funded by Out of State Special Interests
July 11, 2006
News Release – For Immediate Release
Contact: Patrick Norton (803) 799-7798

Floyd Significantly Funded
by Out of State Special Interests
Nearly One Quarter of Funds from Same NY Address
Columbia, SC — According to her latest campaign finance report, Superintendent of Education candidate Karen Floyd raised an alarming 47 percent of her money from out of state.  Of her $114,074.04 in contributions, $53,500 came from outside South Carolina. 
    Even more disturbing is the fact that nearly a quarter of Floyd’s contributions came from the same address.  Floyd received $21,000 from various companies that share the address 73 Spring St., Rm. 507, New York, NY, 10012.  All of the companies are associated with Howard Rich, a wealthy New York developer who funnels money into private school voucher schemes across the country. 
    Additionally, Floyd received $17,500 from five sources, including Alex Cranberg, with the same address in Denver, Colorado:  511 16th Street, Suite 300.  Cranberg is also a proponent of private school voucher schemes across the country.
     Floyd’s alarming campaign contributions from out of state special interests contrast starkly with Jim Rex’s support from South Carolina teachers and former educators.  Of the $107,020.54 in contributions to Rex in the second quarter, only $3,670 came from outside South Carolina.
     “Education is an important issue, not just for the Superintendent of Education race, but for the Governor’s race and other elections too,” said Patrick Norton, spokesman for the South Carolina Democratic Party, “and it’s disturbing that radical special interest groups from out of state are funneling so much money into South Carolina elections.”
     “Our candidates and our elected officials should be accountable to South Carolinians, not millionaires from New York who are bankrolling politicians like Karen Floyd and Mark Sanford.”
     “Jim Rex is a lifelong educator working for real reform in our schools and his support is coming from ordinary South Carolinians who care about our public schools across South Carolina.  Karen Floyd can’t hold a candle to Jim’s experience and accomplishments and that’s why she has to rely on these out of state voucher vultures to pay for her campaign,” Norton said.
                                        ###

They’re mentioning that Rex guy again. I guess I need to make a point of meeting him sometime…

As I noted in a column last year, you would never mistake central Pennsylvania for any part of South Carolina. Here, in pictures, are some more ways that they’re different, starting with the State House in Harrisburg:

Never mind that we don’t hold with public sector unionism in the Palmetto State. I don’t anyway, and I think my attitude is pretty common (much to Mark Whittington’s consternation). But can you imagine, even if we did, being proud enough of it to put a historical plaque smack in front of our State House?

A different place, indeed.

They also have a lot of nekkid people right there where you walk in to the seat of their government. Well, I never saw the like…

Then, when you quit looking at the naked ladies and notice the actual walls of their statehouse up close, you notice how deprived they are up here. You see it, don’t you? No cannonball holes. I mean, they’ve got nothing to resent. How do they get up in the morning with any sense of purpose?

Anyway, I was going to offer to make some for them (after all, they probably helped make ours in one way or another), but I couldn’t find anybody in charge to officially accept my offer.

Yeah, I know, I thought the same thing when I saw this e-mail promo from Tribune Media Services:

But no, this highly reputable news service has not branched out into political porn.

Sorry if I falsely raised the hopes of all you lonely "conservative" guys out there.

First, before I say anything else, I want to acknowledge that Lisa Yanity’s opinion is worth a thousand times mine on the subject of anything having to do with soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan — especially how they think or feel. I’ve never had the chance to serve, and therefore know nothing about how a soldier, especially one who’s been in combat,  really feels.

So you should give greater credence to what she has to say on the subject of soldier morale than anything I might speculate about. And to encapsulate what she said for those too lazy to click on the link, she said it doesn’t bother her for people to say they support the troops but not the war. She still feels supported.

I believe her completely when she says that. But I can’t imagine myself ever feeling the same way  in her circumstances.

Note that I say "imagine," because that’s all I can do, not ever having been in such circumstances. Perhaps I would, upon being shot at, undergo such a shift in perspective that I would no longer care whether a person supported what I was doing as long as he showed his personal approval of me and my fellow folks in uniform.

But I doubt it. I strongly suspect that if somebody tried to pat me on the back sympathetically and tell me I’m a fine fellow right after complaining about what an awful thing our country is doing "over there," that person would be courting frostbite from my cold shoulder.

I just can’t see feeling all warm and fuzzy inside if someone said to me, "Oh, you poor thing, risking your life in my place. You have my support. But remember that if you get killed or maimed for life, it’s all for nothing. In fact, your presence in Iraq makes me feel less safe." Maybe I would, but I just can’t see it.

Somehow, I don’t think getting applause instead of being spit upon in
airports would do it for me. I think I’d expect a little more from the folks back home. I might even think I deserved more. I know Lisa Yanity deserves more.

OK, back to work. Lindsey Graham just called me back from a fund-raiser somewhere in Georgia, and gave me enough on his role as a negotiator trying to pull the Senate back from the nuclear brink over judicial nominees that I could write three or four columns on it. Unfortunately, there’s only space for one — and not enough time for that one, so I’d best get busy. Be sure to read my column on Sunday. If I have some good leftovers, I may post them here…

Just wanted to Download Lanier blood on my other blog.