It is my opinion that both candidates are great people, but I do believe that overall Duncan is better — experience, track record, knowledge, to name a few. Yet I don’t fault anyone for supporting Cash.

However I have been disappointed at some of the things that have come out of the Cash camp. It seems to me that Cash has lost the issues battle, and now all he can do is paint Duncan in a bad light. As my sister pointed out in a conversation earlier, Duncan’s service in the SC House — the very thing Cash should be expressing gratitude for — is one of the very things he’s attacking.

“If you cannot answer a man’s argument, all it not lost; you can still call him names.” ~Elbert Hubbard

Yesterday I asked the Zais campaign about the joint Chellis-Zais ad buy. Zais, Chellis, Jeff Duncan, and Henry McMaster all employ the same media consultant. The media company buys blocks of airtime and then divides that up between its clients (in this case Zais, Chellis, and Duncan I believe). It is not illegal to do this, and everyone gets a better rate in the process.

This isn’t about any candidate. This is simply a matter of business. No law was broken, and one should not assume associations between any candidates because of this.

Governor

Haley, Haley, and Haley are my first, second and third choices! If you haven’t met/heard her in person, be at Chief’s tonight (Friday, 6/4) at 7PM (723 Congaree Rd).

Lt. Governor

Bill Connor. He will also be at Chiefs along with Haley.

Superintendent of Education

This is a bit harder choice for me, because I don’t feel I know any of the candidates very well. I’m leaning toward Mick Zais because of his military accomplishments (general) and administrative accomplishments (took Newberry college from the worst in the state to the best in the state. First thing he did was fired a bunch of lousy people, I’m told.) He has also been a teacher, so he knows what they are up against.

Kelly Payne may also be a good choice, I know a lot of people supporting her also.

Gary Burgess is from Anderson and I’m told he talks a really good line, but he was arrested once for soliciting sex (acquitted, but still – he could not have been up to any good where he was when it happened. And to think of him being in charge of educating children…)

Brent Nelsen doesn’t seem to bring that much to the table, and he’s against school vouchers.

Treasurer

Curtis Loftis. Easy choice. Chellis, the incumbent, has done some very wasteful/fraudulent things on the taxpayer dime, including only working an average of 20 hours per week.

Comptroller General

Mike Meilinger. A small businessman, accountant, Christian, homeschooling father of 5… Eckstrom, the incumbent, has served 12 years and it’s time to go home. Plus, he sent some inappropriate and embarrasing emails to Kelly Payne (Google “eckstrom payne emails”).

Attorney General

Hmm. I know least about this race. Concerned about the possibility of Alan Wilson (son of Joe “You Lie!” Wilson) being one of the “good ‘ol boys” — like his dad, and Barrett, and so many of the others. I Don’t get a good feeling about Leighton Lord (nothing really to base that on though). Bolchoz sounds really good, so I guess I’ll vote for him.

US House District 3 (Anderson/Oconee/Pickens)

Jeff Duncan seems to be the strongest candidate. I want a fighter who will not waver on conservative principles. I think Duncan has done this. I also want someone who is running for the right reason. Duncan seems to understand the importance of “going home” — and if he fails to win this seat he will gladly do just that–and enjoy being with his family.

Richard Cash, Neal Collins, and Mike Vasovski are all excellent candidates in various ways. I really won’t be sorry if any of them get the nomination. They all have different strengths. Duncan is my pick because I think he is the most well rounded and articulate, plus he has legislative experience so the learning curve will be less steep.

That said… if elected, you better know we’ll hold his feet to the fire, and if he doesn’t fight for us I will be looking elsewhere in 2012.

Joe Grimaud doesn’t have much to offer that the others don’t offer, and he lives is Joe Wilson’s district (District 2)!

US House District 4 (Greenville)

Jim Lee, Jim Lee, and Jim Lee! A political outsider, businessman, and very articulate candidate. Exactly the kind of fresh blood we need to replace RINO incumbent Bob Inglis.

Christina Jeffery claims to be the “tea party candidate”, but the only tea party endorsement she received is one she helped create in Boiling Springs (which, if you ask me, is a conflict of interest). She also has a close friendship with SCGOP Chairwoman Karen Floyd. She’s run twice before and lost. She doesn’t seem that serious about her campaign and can’t seem to keep the same campaign manager for any length of time. Could she be a GOP-sponsored spoiler? I dunno.

State House District 10 (Anderson)

Joshua Putnam. Twenty-something-year-old with all the fire and energy that brings. He’s going up against a rotten (and powerful) incumbent – House Ways & Means Chairman Dan Cooper. I admire his courage.

Josh seems to be running for all the right reasons, and will do a much better job representing us. (How’s all that “experience” of Danny Cooper’s working out for you? Remember, he single-handedly blocked the roll-call voting bill, H3047, for nearly two years in the House.)

State House District 17 (Greenville)

Tom Corbin. I don’t have firsthand knowledge of the candidates in this race but I hear Corbin is a good guy, and he’s going up against incumbent RINO Harry Cato.

Anderson County Council District 1

Francis Crowder

Anderson County Council District 3

Eddie Moore (Incumbent, the only sitting councilperson that’s been more conservative is Cindy Wilson)

Anderson County Council District 4

Ed Allgood. A bit of a tough call for me, but I get rave reports on Allgood from everyone and the incumbent, Tom Allen, has made some questionable votes and even brought a gun restriction ordinance once. Of course, it was quickly shot down. In all fairness, he was in his own way simply trying to respond to some issues one of his constituents was having with a neighbor.

Anderson County Council District 5

Tina Watkins I’m told is a better choice than incumbent Tommy Dunn.

Anderson County Council District 6

Rick Freemantle. No one has worked harder, attended more county meetings, and done more research than this guy. He is an absolute rock-solid conservative. Plus, he has guts — he has a lawsuit pending against the former corrupt county regime.

Greenville County Council District 28

Harry Kibler. Another hardworking patriot who is a political outsider, much like Freemantle. He founded the organization RINO HUNT in Greenville, and decided to run against incumbent Fred Payne because he couldn’t sit by and let a RINO in his own backyard go unopposed.

Here are some interesting things I learned from that conversation.

Eckstrom Relationship denied

Regarding the alleged “affair” between her and Eckstrom, she denied ever having any intercourse with Eckstrom. Apparently someone, somehow, gained access to her email and went digging for dirt. They found some emails from Eckstrom to Payne, and she believes they tried to blackmale him with those embarrassing emails. (Eckstrom won’t publicly admit that he was blackmaled, but she strongly suspects they did.)

So, when they found out that Eckstrom didn’t have a pile of cash (like someone like McMaster), they turned to other means of monetizing their ill-gotten gain. Miss Payne suspects that one of her opponents bought the emails, and they were released on SC Hotline and FITSNews (surprise?).
She did confirm that the emails were not forged.

Miss Payne said that she never did anything to provoke or encourage the attention she got from Eckstrom, and no emails were released from Payne to Eckstrom–apparently because there were none. She said the only reason she hasn’t taken a stronger stance against his actions is because she isn’t out to destroy his primary chances, but afterwards–whether he wins or loses–she will consider having a restraining order put on Eckstrom to prevent any further stalking.
I have not as of yet read the leaked emails, so I cannot say whether her story contradicts what was actually said.

Regarding the claim someone made that she said she was “working for Eckstrom’s campaign” at the Spartanburg GOP stump meeting, what she actually said was “I worked [past tense] for his campaign…” She said she wanted to know if he was going to mention her role in getting school district spending online for public viewing, and that she hasn’t worked for his campaign in two years–and when she did it was an odd job organizing some records after another school teacher he’d hired had a child and fell behind.

Issues

• Payne supports vouchers, and certain “scholarships” (a more media-friendly way of doing the same thing)
• Initially opposed school district consolidation, but after being hired by Ashley Landiss to do research on the subject, came to the conclusion that it would be beneficial after all. Opposes state-mandated consolidations; she said that decisions like this need to be left up to the community, but indicated that the community must make some hard choices in light of the budget shortfalls.
• Payne stated that she played an important role to achieve school spending transparency via the Comptroller General’s office (she acknowledged working with Eckstrom on this)

Greenville GOP Debate, 12/2009

Miss Payne said she did horribly in this debate. It was her first one, and she had never before debated in public.

Regarding her support of whole language techniques for reading, her explanation was that phonics absolutely do a better job teaching reading to most students, but that an unfortunate federal legislation–the IDEA act–forces schools to “not discriminate” against students who would have great difficulty learning to read with phonics (dyslexic students, and others).

She stated that Barbara Nielson Inez Tenenbaum did much harm to SC’s educational system.

Support

During our conversation, she cited strong support from the Myrtle Beach TEA Party, and the unprecedented recent endorsements of two school administrators, one of whom is a Democrat.

Conclusion

So there you have it, her side of the story. I have not decided who I am supporting. I only saw the first debate (mentioned above), and since she indicated that doesn’t really tell the whole story, and there have been around 12 debates since then, I am trying to get my hands on footage of some of those other debates.

Please do your own research, and if you have further information, please post it in the comment section.

Mitch Baroody has a great analysis of the recent SC Gubernatorial Debate. While I do not support Andre Bauer (as Mitch obviously does), I found his analysis entertaining and insightful. I have extracted part of his commentary here:

First, I will start from the bottom with Gresham Barrett. As a Citadel colleague, I was really disappointed in his performance. Not that I was even supporting him, but you wish each other the best. Congressman Barrett was less than confident, and sometimes seemed more like a Southern Baptist preacher rather than someone ready to lead our state…amen?

What bothered me most was the defense of his vote for Socialism in the bailout/tarp saga. He consistently defended this vote and refused to back down. I am in disbelief that anyone claiming to be “The 4th most Conservative Congressman” could stand behind a vote like this.

Many in South Carolina’s conservative circles spoke with him the night before he voted and warned him…but he apparently knew best. Barrett went on to not answer questions, beat around the bush, and really did not establish himself as a credible candidate.

He seemed just like acurrent U.S. Congressman should: Uninformed and Out of touch. I am sure that is how many South Carolinians see him as well.

Well said. Who would you support? Cast your vote here.

Here is a Facebook comment by Matthew Hilley, Anderson County Republican Party 2nd Vice Chair, and my response.

Matthew Hilley: Grooms never actually had a chance in this race! A lot of time good people get into a race they can’t win! This race will come down to Barrett and McMaster baring any big upsets or political blunders! Haley is a great candidate and she has some good ideas but she is not going to be standing at the end of the day.

Everyone knows my personal choice and favorite is of course Gresham Barrett for Governor! I think he has a great shot at this. The only worry I have is the amount of money the other one has! I encourage anyone who thinks badly of Gresham Barrett should research him a little better and actually get to know his voting record and look into what he has done for this state, this country and 3rd Congressional district! Gresham is a great man, an awesome leader and a wonderful friend! He is also a great friend to our men and women still serving in the military to defend our rights! I know this man PERSONALLY and I think he is Awesome! He is the right choice for SC and he is the right choice for Conservatives!

We need to STOP tearing down good people because we disagree with a very tiny percentage of the hundreds of decisions they have made! You tear down good people hoping for a long shot and at the end of the day you get stuck with the one you do not want because you tore down a good man!!

Research, ask questions and analyze the truth do not fall for the spin even when it comes from the right side of an argument!

Response:

Matthew, Matthew, Matthew. Why must it come down to Barrett and McMaster? Pray tell, why will Haley not be standing at the end of the race? Do you not “get” the tea party movement? Do you not know what it is that are getting people up off their lay-z-boys for the first time ever in their 50+ year lives? And do you not know that there are forces at work in this election that haven’t been present since possibly the Civil War?

By the way, the good ‘ol boy network is called that because they are all FRIENDS.

If the TARP vote of Barrett’s was an innocent mistake then there would be room for forgiveness. The problem is that he went into this thing with their eyes wide open. We have video footage of Barrett’s speeches on the house floor to prove it. He blatantly violated the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. THAT, my friend, is no small thing.

(Besides, I personally believe the sub-prime mortgage “crisis” was a lie, a scam, and could have been fixed simply by reversing the intrusive and negative influence that Congress had imposed years earlier. Our American markets are more resilient than our politicians give them credit for. But that is another story for another day.)

The second big problem I have with Barrett is that even though he mostly voted right, he is not a fighter. At least not compared to DeMint. If he were a fighter of that caliber we would not be able to help knowing it. Jim DeMint is in the news constantly because he’s causing such a ruckus.

IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO VOTE RIGHT ANYMORE! WE NEED PEOPLE WHO WILL FIGHT.

The third big problem I have with Barrett (and this one makes me mad) is that I feel he has been delinquent on his job and has avoided his constituents. He’s one of our Anderson homeboys, he should show his face more often. When was the last time he was at an Anderson GOP meeting? He didn’t show up at our Anderson Tea Party on 4/16/2009. Why, he has had the grand total of ONE townhall, in Seneca of all places, since the healthcare debate started up. Is he a coward? (Inglis, as unpopular as he is, had no less than 5 very controversial townhalls.) Or is he too busy campaigning? I dare say the latter, since he also missed 337 out of 971 house votes in 2009 (34.7%). I’m not paying him $174k/yr to miss one third of the votes. I know campaigning is hard, but if you’re not doing your job as a representative what makes me think he’s going to do a good job as a governor? (In contrast, Rep. Mike Wamp, who is running for governor of TN, only missed 8%.)

Many in the Tea Party movement lately have been asking Grooms, deemed the Tea Party candidate, whether he could be as effective on the conservative issues facing the nation from the Governor’s Office in Columbia. Grooms says this has been another major factor playing into his decision.

Dean Allen, candidate for Adjutant General and a dedicated patriot who was fighting for freedom long before the tea party movement, had some interesting comments on the SC Congressional races. I find his comments ironic and significant since our Republican Congressional delegation held hands and jumped for TARP together, reasoning that “they can’t throw us all out.”

(I am convinced, and always have been, that things were not as bad as they were made out to be. I believe the sub-prime mortgage crisis was a deliberately engineered plot, and the people who supposedly represent our interests all fell for it. I have always said that true conservatives know better than to bail out business with taxpayer’s money, and I will never apologize for that.)

Now for Dean Allen’s comments:

Larry Grooms is a true patriot and I hate to see him out of the Governor’s race. His departure puts Congressman Gresham Barrett in dead last place. It is interesting that the man with the most name ID, and the most money, Barrett is dead last.

All six SC Congressmen voted for the $850 Bush Bailout. Brown and Barrett are not seeking re-election. Inglis and Spratt are in trouble for re-election. Looks like the voters are awake and in a mood to throw out the bums that can be thrown out starting with non-conservative Gresham Barrett.