beasley vs. demint, sc runoff

[WalterMitty]

it looks like it will be beasley vs. demint in the sc runoff.

demint narrowly edged the best candidate in the race, thomas ravenel, for second place and the right to take on beasley in the runoff.

i guess ill have to support demint.  beasley was a bad governor and with his new committment to protectionism, he will be an even worse (if possible) senator.

[WalterMitty]

have yall ever noticed that fritz hollings comes across as a totally unfriendly guy?

[WalterMitty]

have yall ever noticed that fritz hollings comes across as a totally unfriendly guy?

He is 81 or something

yes, but he was nasty and mean even when he was a youthful segregationist.

[WalterMitty]

no, when he was governor and blacks couldnt so much as use the same water fountain as whites.

[WalterMitty]

id opt for the capitalist (i.e. demint)

[WalterMitty]

"Oh yeah... remind me again... who was it that Hodges beat in 1998?"

how are governor hodges and governor barnes doing these days?  id imagine they have a lot of spare time on their hands.

[WalterMitty]

in the case of barnes, he believed too much of his own hype.  he honestly believed he was a rising national star and had little to worry about in the election.

hodges was a weak governor from the begining, who won the election by beating another weak governor.  hodges is a pretty decent guy.  why didnt he run for the senate this year?

[WalterMitty]

if i were a south carolinian, id seriously think about voting for inez over beasley (should he win the nomination)

al, the nc gop isnt ripping tself to shreds.  the party is united over richard burr.  i love burr, he was my congressman for awhile.  he is a tad too protectionist for me, but i believe that is just 'talk'.

there is large field of republicans running for governor.  it's a pretty sorry lot.  im not sure who im going to vote for in the primary, probably ballantine.  im most likely voting for easley in the general election.

[WalterMitty]

yes al, there was a nasty fight over richard morgan a few eeks ago.  that fight was started by a bunch of right wingers.  they are mad about morgan entering into a power sharing agreenment in the state house with jim black.

the republicans in raleigh are completely inept, and so are the democrats , for that matter.  every freakin year, the republicans (who believe in the right of the individual, mind you) block a public referendum on the lottery.  it's really quite sad that they are so backwards/

anyway, richard morgan is involved in a *nasty* primary fight in moore county.  he will be lucky to survive.  im rooting for him, though.

keystone phil:  i disagree that ballantine has the best shot at winning the primary.   id say that richard vinroot is the clear frontrunner, if only because of his name recognition (from two previous lackluster runs for governor).  i would in no way vote for vinroot.  he is a phoney.

id consider voting for ballantine over easley in the general.  ballantine is young, and probably not quite as backwards as his amigos in raleigh.

remember, the gop primary will certainly go to a run off.  right now it looks like vinroot vs. ballantine in the runoff.  but watch out for bill cobey.  

[WalterMitty]

vinroot *should* have won in 2000.  for a couple of reasons:

1.  he had good name recognition from his 96 run
2.  easley is a terrible campaigner and took several weeks off during the summer.  he also rarely campaigned in person.
3.  easley wasnt a terribly popular politician, even among dems.  many partisan dems have never forgiven him for prosecuting some democratic officials when he was  DA in brunswick county.
4.  bush won big in nc in 2000, yet vinroot failed to capitalize on that.

vinroot performed HORRIBLY in eastern nc, as most republicans do in statewide elections.  perhaps ballantine, being an easterner himself, will be able to do a little better down east.

[WalterMitty]

give southerners credit.  they know a stupid idea when they see one.

neo-populism=stupid idea.

why cant you just call it populism?  i reckon george wallace and that crowd tainted that word.

[WalterMitty]

yeah but im just as wary of the neo-populists as i am the old populists.  the neo-populists arent racists, but they play on fear just like the old populists did.

no amount of protectionism in the world is going to bring textiles back.  they need to be honest.  it;s all about economic diversifaction.  rdu and charlotte didnt become major economic centers by relying on $8 hour textile jobs.  they diversified their economy.

update:  governor easley further angers democrats by blowing off their  convention over the weekend.  that is one reason i like easley.  he is his own man  

[WalterMitty]

south carolinians beat back (convincingly) the evil forces of protectionism on tuesday night.  i expect them to do the same in november.