Category: South Carolina

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics Rick Santorum South Carolina

Newt Gingrich – Missing In Action In South Carolina

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego? We don’t know. We also don’t know where Newt Gingrich is. He was supposed to be at an event in South Carolina, but last time we checked, the event went un-Newt-ered!

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was greeted with a standing ovation when he was announced at a barbecue.

Too bad the former House speaker wasn’t around to see it.
He was inexplicably missing, and his absence forced the event’s moderator to ask awkwardly, “Can we check and see where the speaker is?”

It was just one in a string of clumsy, head-scratching events staged by the Gingrich campaign since the Republican primary moved to South Carolina, a state that the candidate says he must win if he wants a shot at the nomination.

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Mitt Romney Politics Republican South Carolina Steven Colbert

New Ad – “Mitt Romney Is A Serial Killer!”

Help stop “Mitt The Ripper!”

 “As head of Bain Capital he bought companies, carved them up, and got rid of what he couldn’t use. If Mitt Romney really believes ‘Corporation are people, my friend,’ then Mitt Romney is a serial killer.”

If you believe Corporations are people…, help stop Mitt the ripper.”

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

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Boston Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics South Carolina

Mitt Romney Also Took Jobs Away From South Carolina – Made Millions For Doing It

David Wren writes: 

Boston-based Bain Capital LLC more than doubled its money on GS Industries Inc. [of South Carolina] – the former parent company of Georgetown Steel – under Mitt Romney’s leadership in the 1990s, even as the steel manufacturer went on to cut more than 1,750 jobs, shuttered a division that had been around for 100 years and eventually sank into bankruptcy.

Bain Capital spent $24.5 million to acquire GS Industries in 1993, according to an investment prospectus for the company that was obtained by the Los Angeles Times and reviewed by McClatchy Newspapers. By the end of that decade, Bain Capital estimated its partners had made $58.4 million off its investment in GS Industries, according to the prospectus.

Bain Capital’s partners also earned multimillion-dollar dividends from GS Industries and annual management fees of about $900,000. But by the time GS Industries filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001, it owed $553.9 million in debts against assets valued at $395.2 million.

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics South Carolina

Romney Holds Small Lead Over Gingrich In South Carolina

With just days to go before the South Caroina prmary begins, new polling shows some good news for Gingrich and some bad news for Romney, as conservative Republicans still questions the moderate record of Mitt Romney.

The former Massachusetts governor’s lead is so small in the Palmetto State that he’s essentially tied with Newt Gingrich, according to a poll conducted for The Augusta Chronicle by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research. Romney’s 23 percent and Gingrich’s 21 percent fall within the 3.6 percent margin of error. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who came in second in the Iowa caucuses is in third place in South Carolina with 14 percent, while Texas Congressman Ron Paul, the runner-up in New Hampshire, is effectively tied with him at 13 percent.

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Politics South Carolina

Is Rick Perry Delusional Or Is He Just a Fool

Rick Perry got a massive 5% of the votes in Iowa, then lastnight in New Hampshire, 1% of voters still chose Perry, although he didn’t compete in the state. But instead of doing what other famous quitters like Sarah Palin and now Michele Bachmann have done and gracefully bow out, Perry still think there is hope for the corpse that is his campaign.

“South Carolina is the next stop,” Perry said in his statement. “I have a head start here, and it’s friendly territory for a Texas governor and veteran with solid outsider credentials, the nation’s best record of job creation, and solid fiscal, social and Tea Party conservatism.”

The latest polls from South Carolina show Perry in fifth place with 5 percent support. Romney places first in those polls.

Well, we never accused him of being a math wizard, but someone should advise Mr. Perry that 5% support does not equal a “head start,” nor does it signal “friendly terrority.”

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Citizens United Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics presidential Republican Rick Santorum South Carolina

Apres-Primary Musings: Mitt Can’t Conquer the Mountain

We are not impressed.

If Mitt Romney can’t muster over 40% of the vote in a backyard state against a field of sub-par candidates with extreme positions on the issues, then he’s not ready yet for his curtain call. Yes, it certainly was a good day for Romney, but not as good as his victory speech would indicate.

He’ll win the nomination, but two things are abundantly clear. The first is that Romney still hasn’t galvanized his party as a candidate, and the second is that Republican enthusiasm is turning out to be somewhat of a myth.

Let’s get to the numbers.

Here’s what I said would happen (left) and here’s what actually happened (right):

Romney      38%        39.4%

Paul            19%        22.8%

Huntsman   16%       16.8%

Gingrich      11%         9.4%

Santorum    10%         9.3%

Roemer         3%         0.4%

Perry             1%          0.7%

As in Iowa, not bad. I seem to have underestimated Ron Paul’s reliable support and overestimated Buddy Roemer’s, but I don’t think I was alone.

If present reports are true, all the candidates are moving on to South Carolina where the PAC-men will be gobbling up money and air time in their quest for Romney’s scraps. This will be Citizens United writ not on the main stage, but as regional summer stock theater. Millions of dollars that otherwise could be spent on more significant pursuits will be sucked down the rabbit hole of ego and vanity. That’s the new democracy at work, and we’d all better get used to it because when the campaign moves to Broadway in the fall, there’s going to be an ad war like no other.

South Carolina is the last stand for Huntsman, Santorum and Perry to be sure unless any of them pull wild upsets and finish in the top 3, and above 20%. Gingrich could stay in if he’s in the top 3 because he now has PAC money and Paul and his minions will stick around for the duration. Romney can claim the nomination with a dominant performance, over 40%, but 30% will be enough to make him inevitable.

Follow the march to the south at facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives.

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Politics South Carolina United States voter suppression

Nikki Haley Plans To Sue Obama Administration To Implement Voter I.D Laws

Their attempt to suppress the vote in South Carolina with the implementation of voter ID laws, was stopped by the Obama administration, but this is not derailing the Republican governor, Nikki Hailey, as she and her administration promises to take the case to court in the form of a law suit.

“The will of the people was that we want to protect the integrity of the voting process,” Haley said. “And if you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to get on a plane – you should have to show an ID to do that one thing that is so important to us, which is that right to vote.”

Exactly Haley, “the right to vote.” Buying Sudafed or getting on a plane is not a “right.” Voting is, and it is protected by the Constitution. So why exactly are you and your Republican friends trying to put a condition on our rights, rights that are protected by the United States Constitution?

Seems unconstitutional to me Haley. Didn’t you take an oath to uphold the constitution?

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Nikki Haley Politics South Carolina United States voter suppression

Judge Slams Break On Nikki Haley’s Voter Suppression Law

Since winning the House of Representatives in November 2010, Republicans have been on a rampage trying all they could to suppress the votes of minorities throughout the United States. Republicans would have you believe that voter fraud is crippling our political process, and they are the only ones with the willingness and ability to fix it.

If you listen to the Republican logic, you will believe that on election day, millions of dead people come back to life and vote for Democrats. So to solve this dilemma, Republicans governors across the nation began implementing various forms of voter ID laws.

But the facts show a different story.

A recent Washington Post article found that “prosecutable cases of voter fraud are rare.” The report said that in Ohio for example, out of 9 million votes cast in the 2002 and 2004 elections, only 4 cases of voter fraud were reported. And “from 2002 to 2005, the Justice Department found only five people were convicted for voting multiple times.”

But what about on the national scene, the voter ID fraud cases must be ridiculously rampant, right? Well you’d be wrong to think that too. Another report, this time by the New York Times found that during the first five years of the Bush crackdown on voter fraud, from 2002 to 2007,  “about 120 people have been charged and 86 convicted” nationwide.

This is just a manufactured issue by Republicans claiming that we are under attack by  illegitimate voters from beyond the grave. That’s just not the case and these Republican governors know it. What they are actually trying to do, is suppress the minority votes for the 2012 election.

So we take pleasure in reporting what this judge did in South Carolina – putting the brakes on Gov. Nikki Haley’s voter ID law.

The U.S. Justice Department has blocked South Carolina’s controversial voter ID law, saying it would prevent black people from voting.

It was the first voter ID law to be refused by the federal agency in nearly 20 years.

The decision means voters will not have to show a Department of Motor Vehicles-issued driver’s license or photo ID card, a U.S. military ID or a U.S. passport. And it means the state, which says it plans to appeal the decision in court, will spend time and taxpayer dollars on the second such lawsuit during Gov. Nikki Haley’s term.

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Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich Politics South Carolina

And Here’s Mitt Romney – The “Ideal” Teapartier

Mitt Romney is the ultimate politician, although he will be the first to tell you that he “lived his life in the private sector.” I call him the ultimate politician because he has mastered the hustle of knowing his audience and pandering to them to get their vote. And like it is for any politician, votes are the number one priority, so telling your audience what they want  to hear is a sure way to get them to nod in your direction.

Well – now he’s catering to the Teaparty. Speaking in South Carolina on Saturday, Romney told the audience (some were teaparty members) that he is the “ideal” teaparty candidate, as he tried to cast doubt on the Teaparty’s present favorite candidate, Newt Gingrich.

“I recognize that the speaker has a big lead here,” Romney said of Gingrich in a press conference in South Carolina. “But I think as people take a closer and closer look, they’ll recognize that I reflect more effectively the positions which they hold on key issues.

“I think Tea Partiers may have listened to the first debate where we discussed the speaker’s compensation from Freddie Mac, for instance. And he said, I think he said that he got $300,000 from Freddie Mac and it was to work as an historian. And as time has gone on we find out it’s $1.6 million and he worked as a spokesman for, in providing support for Freddie Mac,” Romney said. “I think as tea partiers concentrate on that for instance, they’ll say, wow, this really isn’t the guy that would represent our views.”

The tea party, Romney said, is “anxious to have people who are outside Washington coming in to change Washington, as opposed to people who stayed in Washington for 30 years.”

“And I believe on the issues, as well, that I line up with a smaller government, a less intrusive government, regulations being pared back, holding down the tax rates of the American people, maintaining a strong defense, and so many Tea Party folks are going to find me, I believe to be the ideal candidate,” Romney said. “I sure hope so.”

Because of his constant drive to be accepted by all political factions and and his inability to stick to any one position, Romney has gained the status of  flip flopper: skilled in the art of moving from one policy to another at the drop of a hat.

Imagine for a moment, a Romney administration making the dreaded announcement that America will go to war with Iran. Most assuredly by the next week, while the troops are in the air flying to drop the first bombs, Romney decides that war may not be the answer to Iran afterall, only to change his mind once again the following week.

Leadership…not!

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Barack Obama Mitt Romney Nikki Haley Politics Republican Rick Santorum South Carolina

Mitt Is It

I’ve said it before. And it is now painfully apparent that Republican primary voters have cycled through almost every candidate who’s running for the nomination, and they will eventually settle on Mitt. Yes, it’s possible for Jon Huntsman to have his bump, although even if he doubled his support he’d only be polling at 4%. Rick Santorum? Again, it’s possible, but just how is he different from Rick Perry? Or, perhaps more importantly, how is he the same as Rick Perry? Here’s how: both will lose.

And Mitt? Well, he just picked up the endorsement of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, which solidifies his position in an important southern state that votes in January, even though Haley’s support is causing her problems with the local Tea Party voters.

But how do we really know that Romney is heading towards the nomination?

Intrade. That’s right. The online trading market and prediction website showed that Mitt gained almost 10 points overnight, while Newt’s number plummeted from 38 to 18. Note to Newt: When the capitalists are bailing on you, it’s time to lobby for an ambassadorship to an island with hefty security. Even worse, he’s now behind Herman Cain(!). Ouch. Of course, these numbers could change tomorrow, but I wouldn’t expect a dramatic turnaround for any of the candidates in the field.

Romney might not win the Iowa caucuses and it won’t hurt him unless he falls to fourth place. He’ll win in New Hampshire, and by then a few of the candidates will have dropped out and thrown their support behind “the eventual nominee'” who will be Romney. Conservatives will have to either grin and bear him or stay home on election day, but that will only help Barack Obama, and we all know that helping the president is just not in the GOP’s DNA.

It might be February before Gingrich’s campaign issues a DNR order, but that day will come, sooner rather than later. Then the real campaign can begin.

For more pithy,  scientific references in political analysis, visit www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives

 

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Medicare Mitch McConnell Politics Republican South Carolina United States

Lindsey Graham Blames His Fellow Congressional Republicans

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has a message for his Republican friends in Congress. Don’t blame the President or even the Democrats. Don’t blame anyone else for the mess over raising the debt ceiling, blame yourself.

“Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months. How many Republicans have been on TV saying, ‘I’m not going to raise the debt limit.’ You know, Mitch [McConnell] says, ‘I’m not going to raise the debt limit unless we talk about Medicare.’ And I’ve said I’m not going to raise the debt limit until we do something about spending and entitlements.’ So we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.

“We shouldn’t have said that if we didn’t mean it.”

The Republicans are beginning to break.

With the President holding his ground in the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling, and with Americans looking at the Republicans as obstructionists whose only goal is protecting the rich while the rest of the country slides into default, Republicans are beginning to wonder out loud why they intentionally mislead the American people over a very routine matter – raising the debt ceiling. On Tuesday, Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell proposed a feeble detour to get the debt ceiling raised, and now this from Lindsey Graham.

The American people are keeping track of what’s going on, and the Republicans are beginning to see the writing on the wall… in the form of a political suicide note that is.

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Politics South Carolina United States

Republican Suggests Impeaching President Obama For Maybe Invoking The 14th Amendment

Section 4 of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution says:

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.

Because of this amendment, many suggests that Congressional authorization to raise the debt ceiling is not necessary, as not doing so would mean that America defaults on its obligation to pay its debt, thus, going against the 14th amendment of the constitution.

Republicans – who have stood their ground in insisting that raising the debt ceiling is not going to happen – are now scrambling to find a way to defeat section 4 of the 14th amendment. Some have suggested an amendment to the 14th amendment and others like Rep. Tim Scott of South Carolina, went even further. He wants to impeach President Obama if the President even thinks about trying to raise the debt ceiling without congress. The South Carolina representative recently told a teaparty audience;

“This president is looking to usurp congressional oversight to find a way to get it done without us. My position is that is an impeachable act from my perspective.”

There are a lot of things people say, ‘Are you going to impeach the president over that?’ — No. But this? This is catastrophic. This jeopardizes the credibility of our nation if one man can usurp the entire system set up by our founding fathers over something this significant.”

It should be noted that President Obama has never mentioned an intent to “usurp the entire system.” As a matter of fact, this president has gone the extra mile trying to bring both Republicans and Democrats to the table, in an effort to get the Congressional authorization necessary for allowing America to pay her bills.

But then again, Republicans like Tim Scott would like to impeach President Obama just for being president.

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