SC-1 special election - May 7th

[Old Man Svensson]

"Nobody tells me what to do!" - Colbert Busch to Sanford during the debate.

Nowhere near on the same level as the s**t Sanford's done. Unprofessional, yes, but unremarkable compared to adultery and stalking.

[Marokai Backbeat]

She seems like an mildly unprofessional newbie, but at least that's not offensive.

[Maxwell]

From this debate, I think I'd say we still can't count out Sanford. On the substance or otherwise, I think it's hard to say she won.

[Indy Texas]

"Do you think that President Clinton should be condemned for the rest of his life based on a mistake he made in his life?"

The greatest sin in most political sex scandals is that of hypocrisy. As long as the Republicans insist on being the party of "family values" and "defending traditional marriage" they will always face a double standard in this regard. I think it's more than fair to hold people to the standards they want to forcibly impose on everyone else. Why does Bill Clinton get a pass? Because Democrats are not the party of "traditional values" and have never pretended to be. Therefore they are under no obligation to adhere to said values. Mark Sanford and Newt Gingrich have done far more damage to the institution of marriage than my middle-aged lesbian aunt-once-removed who has been with her partner for nearly twenty years.

Furthermore, Sanford used taxpayer money on his dalliances and severely neglected his duties as governor by up and disappearing the way he did. More hypocrisy from a fiscal conservative. It was immature and irresponsible and showed an appalling lack of judgment and leadership for someone who thinks they deserve to be a US Congressman (again).

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Sounds like it was the sort of debate that probably didn't change many minds, but if there is any change in the polls, the debate will be used to explain why.

Incidentally Haley's agreed be the special guest at fundraiser Sanford is holding Wednesday at the home of luxury car dealer.  Couldn't Sanford have found someone with an occupation that doesn't sound quite so plutocratic as that to host it?  The attack ad practically writes itself.

[Beet]

I watched a small portion of the debate and agree with the analyses above.

I'm probably in the minority as a Democrat that doesn't give Clinton a pass for his sex scandal. I think it was a mistake and a pretty serious one at that (exhibit A: the impact on the Al Gore 2000 campaign). Not because I care what Bill does in his personal life, that's between him and his family and shouldn't be a public matter.

Rather, it's because as a public official people's opinions of you are shaped by their perceptions of your character, and part of your job is to maintain that character. It's similar to how some celebrities carefully manage their public personas. Their career is built on the basis of their fame and how people perceive them, so what would be a purely personal matter for most people becomes a professional matter for them. For politicians, it's very similar. How people perceive you is part of the job.

I make this argument carefully because even acknowledging this, I think that if a politician does something in their personal life that isn't really blameworthy, it's still not their fault even if a segment of the population chooses to blame them negatively for it. For instance, let's say a politician was caught admitting to being an atheist, or smoking marijuana. In that case, I'd still defend the politician, because I think society should change to become more accepting of these things.

However, when it comes to cheating, I think people rightly see this as a negative. When people saying Democrats aren't the party of family values, it doesn't mean that Democrats think there's nothing wrong with infidelity. It means Democrats are more accepting of non-traditional family structures, like same-sex couples, divorcees, and single parents. We still think that if you make a vow, it's bad on a personal level to go against it. It's legitimately bad personal flaws like this that I think become part of a politician's job description as a public vote-getter whose effectiveness is dependent in part on his or her popularity.

[DrScholl]

Sanford is the unprofessional, he runs off to some foreign country on the taxpayers dime and abandoned his job for period of time while doing so, Clinton never did that and he didn't trespass on someone's property, either. I don't blame Colbert Busch for her response to all the Pelosi crap, it's irritating and a deflection.

[Keystone Phil]

Let me state for the record that I wasn't defending Sanford's answer in the debate and was/still am disgusted by his affair especially since, as has been pointed out, it was more than just an affair (which still would have bothered me).

[Citizen (The) Doctor]

"Nobody tells me what to do!" - Colbert Busch to Sanford during the debate.

How did that play out through the debate?

[Keystone Phil]

"Nobody tells me what to do!" - Colbert Busch to Sanford during the debate.

How did that play out through the debate?

What do you mean? I think you guys are taking this the wrong way. She wasn't telling Sanford that he can't boss her around. She was addressing the accusation that her Democratic donors and supporters won't own her in DC.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

For those who didn't watch it live, or who want to watch it again, here's a link to the debate:
http://scetv.org/television/streaming/sanford-colbert-debate.cfm

[Ogre Mage]

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lol lol lol

Sanford could still win but given that this is a solid Republican district the fact that Colbert Busch appears slightly ahead is quite hysterical.  If she pulls it off, I look forward to bad media headlines for the GOP.  Though truth be told, it's better for the national GOP if Sanford loses.  If he wins we will put that to good use.

[Indy Texas]

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lol lol lol

Sanford could still win but given that this is a solid Republican district the fact that Colbert Busch appears slightly ahead is quite hysterical.  If she pulls it off, I look forward to bad media headlines for the GOP.  Though truth be told, it's better for the national GOP if Sanford loses.  If he wins we will put that to good use.

Well judging from that specific snippet of conversation, Colbert Busch didn't ask a question. She made a statement. What question was Mark Sanford supposed to answer?

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Ernest, do you know what time the polls close next week?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Ernest, do you know what time the polls close next week?

Same as always, 7pm.  Charleston tends to be a little slow in reporting results, but it's only one race for a special election, so even if it's close, I expect all precincts to have reported in time for the 11pm news and maybe even the 10pm news.  However, unless this is not as close as expected, I doubt there will be a winner declared before 9:30pm.  Colleton County should have its complete results in soonest, since there is only the one coastal precinct connecting Charleston and Beaufort that is in the 1st district.

[badgate]

Larry Flynt has endorsed Gov Sanford!

Governor Sanford today won the key endorsement of Larry Flynt. Flynt says of his favored candidate in the SC-1 election:

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http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/04/larry-flynt-endorses-mark-sanford/

I just...lol.

[Ogre Mage]

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lol lol lol

Sanford could still win but given that this is a solid Republican district the fact that Colbert Busch appears slightly ahead is quite hysterical.  If she pulls it off, I look forward to bad media headlines for the GOP.  Though truth be told, it's better for the national GOP if Sanford loses.  If he wins we will put that to good use.

Well judging from that specific snippet of conversation, Colbert Busch didn't ask a question. She made a statement. What question was Mark Sanford supposed to answer?

It's hard to say if Sanford actually noticed the lack of a question or if he was just suffering from conveniently timed hearing loss after her reference to his extracurricular activities.

Colbert Busch doesn't seem to be a particularly talented candidate, which makes the situation even funnier.  The former governor of the state is struggling against a political neophyte on conservative-friendly turf.  Of course, the main reason she is ahead is because Damaged Goods Sanford is like Humpty Dumpty after he jumped off the wall.  But at least Larry Flynt wants to put him back together again, lol.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Yeah, I'll be surprised if Colbert Bush wins reelection in 2014, but at last this should hopefully give the Democrats some momentum.  Living in a one-party state is not fun, no matter which party it is.

[Tayya]

I don't know why, but I've got a somewhat bad feeling about this. ECB didn't have the best debate, and Sanford's stories have disappeared. They might have come too early. Also, the Pelosi attack lines are smarter than Democrats admit. I hope for ECB to manage it, but it's no better than a toss-up.

[Zioneer]

Yeah, I'll be surprised if Colbert Bush wins reelection in 2014, but at last this should hopefully give the Democrats some momentum.  Living in a one-party state is not fun, no matter which party it is.

Agreed.

[Ogre Mage]

I don't know why, but I've got a somewhat bad feeling about this. ECB didn't have the best debate, and Sanford's stories have disappeared. They might have come too early. Also, the Pelosi attack lines are smarter than Democrats admit. I hope for ECB to manage it, but it's no better than a toss-up.

My take:  Sanford could win, but it's more likely that Colbert Busch will. 

[DrScholl]

Someone is making push poll calls against Colbert Busch. This is nothing but desperation.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/05/01/1945751/south-carolina-push-poll/?mobile=nc

[Tender Branson]

PPP will poll this a last time this weekend.

And Massy.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Someone is making push poll calls against Colbert Busch. This is nothing but desperation.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/05/01/1945751/south-carolina-push-poll/?mobile=nc

South Carolina politics really seems to be the dirtiest in the country for some reason.

[Brittain33]

http://www.redracinghorses.com/diary/3085/rrhpmi-sc1-poll


Tied at 46.

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How was their performance last year? Gold standard-ish?