The Rare Ability to Piss Off Everyone

Party republicans here in SC are whining about the primary process.  It appears that they no longer like the open primaries that they have in the past used to great success.  In fact, they are so up in arms that they are finally moving toward changing to a closed system.  Democratic party officials, not to be outdone, are pissed off that a Democrat colored outside the line.

The big brouhaha is over former Bernie Democrat Dimitri Cherny, who has switched party affiliation in order to primary Mark Sanford in US House District 1.  The problem for republicans is that Cherny is using their own game against them.  The problem for Democrats is that he isn't playing the game by the rules.  The rules that republicans have consistently broken in order to win, and which has over the years given them control over all branches of government, including of late the Supreme Court.

Back in 2010, a smart and unscrupulous republican realized that if certain key state districts could be won and legislatures handed over to republicans, that would enable them to control the upcoming redistricting.  What resulted was the bizarre gerrymandering we have today, wherein most Democrats are swept into one huge district, and many other districts have a comfortable republican margin.  Read the brilliant book Ratf**cked by David Daley for the incredibly ballsy details behind Project REDMAP.  And note:  REDMAP 2020 is in the works.

Closer to home, and back to the republican snit over Cherny registering as a republican, we have indeed had our own questionable candidates.  Back when I was a new and naive blogger, there was Alvin Greene, who despite being totally unknown, handily defeated Vic Rawl in the Democratic primary.  Greene had no prior political experience or ambition.  A closer look (and there were lots of those) found him to have right-wing views on major issues and a couple of pending obscenity charges.  Before the primary he had done no campaigning.  Boy, were our faces red.

The media tried to come up with a number of lame excuses for why his candidacy -- and win -- were legitimate,  from Rawl only campaigned with robocalls and emails, to Greene's name was first alphabetically and on the ballot.  The most logical reason that an Alvin Greene could end up competing against Jim DeMint for the Senate is that he was a republican plant.

Then we have the twenty-year perennial candidate Ben Frasier, who popped up every couple years like Punxutawny Phil to primary a Democrat here in Charleston.  Each election season he dropped in with questionable residency and the ability to disrupt credible races and drain a candidate's financial resources.  He infuriated party elders like Jim Clyburn who accused him of being a plant, but was unstoppable.

Both the Alvin Greene and Ben Frasier fiascos left Democratic Party officials skittish, to say the least.  When Jay Stamper attempted to run against Lindsey Graham in 2014, rumors about his legitimacy had Dems running for cover.  He was not even allowed to introduce himself at a Charleston Democratic group meeting.  At the time, he seemed to me just the kind of candidate that could beat the republican:  fearless, smart, ballsy.  In other words, just the kind that republicans would fear and that Democrats... would also fear.

Stamper was running as a Democrat.  So it is not surprising that Dimitri Cherny would get at best the same kind of welcome as did Stamper.  Given that we actually do have two Democrats running in the primary for SC House District 1, it would make sense that we want our voters to show up for that particular primary.  Cherny has suggested it would be cool for Dems to choose to vote in the republican primary so they can vote for him.

I love you, Dimitri, but that's not going to happen.  What is more likely to happen, however, and what has republican panties in a bunch, is that he can throw a wrench into their primary, which with Dimitri now has three candidates.  I find that absolutely delightful.  Cherny is likely to appeal to younger and/or angrier voters, and given the third candidate, a woman, there is indeed a possibility that Sanford will not easily walk away with a primary win.  And even a win will leave him with republican voters who voted for one of the other candidates.  For once in his graced political life, Mark Sanford might end up breaking a sweat.

The neat thing about Cherny's run is that he just might get some people to get engaged on issues.  Sanford mumbles and bobs-and-weaves his way into sounding like he agrees with just about every stand, and then goes into Congress and votes 100% party line.  As a recent notable example, he happily showed up at town halls last year and expressed total understanding and sympathy over those who did not want to lose Obamacare, and then voted for each of the horrific repeal bills.  Most recently he voted for tax cuts for the rich, his true constituents.   And while he is smart enough to be against drilling off our own coast, he totally supports oil and gas company rights to drill every-damn-where else.  Leaving his supporters back home thinking he is on their side, with no one to challenge him.

The way I see this is:  Sanford wins, and has to go against a Democrat without as united a front as he has had in the past; OR, his republican opponent wins and without the name recognition leaves the Dems with a more level playing field.

OR, Dimitri Cherny wins.  And in the general election we have a Bernie Democrat running against... a Democrat.

No wonder republicans are so pissed off they are actually planning on changing the system.  But Dems, how about lightening up?  Take a page from the truly successful republican playbook and make lemonade out of this strange lemon.  You could just end up winning.

Democratic Insecurity

As our Democratic presidential candidates continue to try to fight a good and honorable campaign, some passionate supporters can be counted on to flare up over the opposite campaign's occasional missteps.  I've heard from Bernie supporters about Hillary's emails, and Hillary supporters who claim Bernie is the NRA's best buddy.

This week it's about Bernie.  And it is not so much those of us on the ground who are doing the squealing, but those puffed up party officials.  This is how it all began:

A few weeks ago, during a taping of Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show, Sanders responded to a question about whether the primary process was rigged by saying that "having so many southern states go first kind of distorts reality."  Oh. My. God.  What is he saying, exactly, about us southerners???

Of course, Bernie being a very white man from a very white state, he has been walking a tightrope regarding racial issues.  And racial issues, for good reason, have been very, very hot this election season.  Not surprisingly, this became a comment about black southern voters being too conservative for Bernie.

Our own Democratic Party chairman, Jaime Harrison, took it upon himself, along with other thin-skinned Democratic party officials from South Carolina as well as other southern states, to very publicly condemn Sanders for his comments.  In a letter to Sanders' campaign headquarters, rationalizations were piled on top of a history lesson about the democratic process and diversity, followed by a statement of support for Hillary.  Yes, really.

Fact is, South Carolina's Democratic party is a very conservative bunch.  They are unlikely to give up a lot of support to anyone who might make waves.  It is not surprising that many good people are discouraged from running for office because of exorbitant filing fees followed by little public or financial support from the party.  You kind of already have to be a winner to expect our guys to get behind you.

To be fair, this is the party that continues to try to live down the Alvin Greene fiasco.  But as overcompensation for being asleep at the wheel in 2010, the party has refused to even acknowledge potentially controversial potential candidates like Jay Stamper in 2014, and pretty much ignored the dynamic Joyce Dickerson in her run against Tim Scott in 2014, despite the fact that she beat out two male primary challengers.

Let me just add that Dickerson's message was just what would have fired up Democrats in South Carolina.  Instead, come election day few had even heard of her.

This year, we have two amazing candidates running for president.  We also have too many republicans running unopposed in all levels of government, with a few brave souls stepping up to bring the Democratic message to South Carolina.  

Slick pols like Tim Scott rub elbows at Hilton Head with the good ole boys with money, while our candidates aren't allowed to stand at the tournament shuttle bus stop to talk about issues.  Most South Carolinians don't ever hear about actual issues; what they get is red meat thrown onto the fire by right wingnuts.  They don't have to even learn names; they just vote that "R" just like their daddy did.

It will take fearlessness to ever, EVER turn blue.  It will take making running more affordable for candidates and it will take the party using some clout to put those names in front of the people.  Republican candidates have learned to make it sound like they are one of us, but they are not.  Voters need to understand that what republicans say is different than how they run our government, and they need to know just how that affects us all.

Democrats need a platform, and yes, Democratic Party, that is going to cost you money.  I know you run lots of programs to try to get people to join the party, but I think you have it backwards.  You need to get the candidates in front of the people so that they will understand what you can do for them if they support you.

And you know what?  There is nothing like controversy to get the cameras rolling.  How about candidates that aren't afraid to be David to the republican Goliath?  How about taking a chance on someone who isn't afraid to speak her mind?  How about not being afraid to support a presidential candidate that fights for socialist programs like Medicare and public schools?

Jaime Harrison is probably a nice guy; I wouldn't know because he never seems to stop selling himself.  He certainly doesn't stop long enough to listen to anybody.  He maybe ought to take a couple of steps back and get some perspective on what is going on.  Our Democratic contests are NOT about race.  They are about different perspectives on how to get the equality we all deserve.  And if he stopped being so thin-skinned, he might actually understand what Senator Sanders was trying to say when he talked about southern voters.

More than once, before the presidential primary, I heard people declare that they liked Bernie, but they were going to vote for Hillary because Bernie couldn't win.  And that wasn't about race, it was about insecurity.

That could be what he was trying to tell us. 

Taking the "Think" Out of "Think Tank"

The Heritage Foundation has pretty much always been more about greed than about smarts.  But yesterday, Jim DeMint announced his plans to dumb down the organization just that much more.

If you've been out of town, or perhaps on a space shuttle back from Mars, you may have missed Jim DeMint's resignation, effective January, from the Senate.  He tells us that his decision to accept the position of president of the Heritage Foundation is because the conservative movement "needs strong ideas."  This is like Big Bird trying to convince ETV that he is leaving to teach omelette making.

I see three reasons for Mr. DeMint's jumping ship.

First of all, he may not be smart, but he is shrewd.  I imagine he started to squirm as the national election results began to come in.  It appears he has decided to leave his Tea Party compatriots blowin' in the wind of the electorate's move to more progressive, less corporate, ideals.

Secondly, DeMint is hardly very smart, but he is greedy.  This move will bring him in many more dollars with which he can continue to fight taxation for the common good.

Finally, DeMint is most decidedly not smart, but he knows what he likes.  He does not like talking to people who will ask him annoying questions, or expect him to be accountable for his decisions.  His last election campaign, Running for Re-Election for Dummies, was aided by anonymous donors who vaulted the mysterious and comedic Alvin Greene into the Democratic nominee position, right over a candidate with brains.

Jim DeMint is right up there with Clarence Thomas when it comes to sulking and refusing to talk.  Both believe that their positions of power should not involve having to rub elbows with the peasants they rule.  Beyond that, they hate, hate, HATE being argued with, much less mocked.  It is my belief that DeMint still has nightmares over being the national laughingstock over his comments about single pregnant women not being allowed to teach.

Never again.  Just as Clarence Thomas will never be required to utter a word to anyone he deems beneath him, Jim DeMint will now be amongst like fellows.

So, I would like to join the Washington Post in saying that I'm tickled that you have decided to leave this august institution, making it just a bit more august than it was while you were there.  As South Carolina's own Representative Jim Clyburn pointed out, you didn't get along all that well with the other members of Congress, even those on your own side of the aisle.

I wonder how long before Heritage Foundation starts to realize just what they got themselves into....

To Occupy or Not to Occupy

As I listened to the founder of Occupy Charleston last night, I felt a frisson of fear creep up my spine.


This is because this movement is young, idealistic and uncompromising.  These are good things.


But I recalled the last time young people had an opinion and were willing to take to the streets for it.  In 1968, the hippies were against war and capitalist greed, and mocked the old folk who had got us where we were.  They didn't care if it was Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon (or Richard Daley for that matter).  They were rejecting and rebelling against the status quo, the comfortable middle class who were sending their sons to Vietnam, the corporations that were profiting from that war, the universities and the politicians that were colluding with the military industrial complex.


They didn't care who won the election; they were both the enemy.


So last night, when the speaker said he didn't really care if Obama got re-elected, or if it took ten years to reach their goals, I shuddered.


I'm older now, lots older.  I may not be around in ten years, but if I am, there is a good chance we will still be controlled by corporations that sleep with politicians and supreme court justices alike.  I will probably have had to work longer before I can collect my social security, which will be too little to pay the bills.  My kids, who are not corporate executive/financial kingpin types, will probably be lucky if they are able to support their families without having to worry about housing and healthcare, and truly fortunate if their children are well educated.


I look at our democratic party, and I see people who are afraid to stand up for democratic ideals.  I see people who are elected promising campaign finance reform, and once elected decide it's not good to bite the hands that feed them.


In South Carolina, I see a party so stuck in its rules that the corruption that was the Alvin Greene debacle of 2010 did not allow them to support a truly democratic candidate from a third party.  And democratic candidates who would not stand with that third party candidate, although we really do know that there is strength in numbers.


I believe that the hippies of 1968 would call that all bullshit, and the Occupy movement would give a downward finger wiggle to anyone running for office who defines their campaign by what is rather than what is right.


I believe Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are candidates this movement can support because they will unflinchingly support the ideals behind this movement.


And it will be a sad, sad day for us all if our democratic candidates are not able to get on board, not because that is where the votes are, but because the cause is right.

So You Say You Want a Revolution...

I have been getting emails from the South Carolina Democratic Party asking for my input via questionnaire, sending me the message that they want to change.  We can do it!

Well, I know they are sincere, and yes the words sound right, but I am skeptical.  Looking back on this last embarrassment of an election season, I would like to put forth a few ideas of my own.

First of all, we need to do something about the rotten primary system in this state.  The rot gets worse every election season.  The worms are in the voting system, and we can argue from here to tomorrow whether or not Alvin Greene really was nominated legitimately or not.  Fact is, we repeatedly allow people to get nominated who do not at all represent the ideals of the democratic party.

I believe that the easiest way to avoid the process called raiding is to have closed primaries.  Yes, democrats choose democratic nominees and republicans choose republican nominees.  Is that really a bad thing?  It is, after all a primary election, which purpose is to choose the best party affiliated nominees.  No, it does not give a person the freedom to go into a voting booth and choose the candidate most likely to be a laughingstock of the opposing party, which I have actually heard people admit to doing.  If you want the most honest primary possible, this is the way to do it.

Next most important move is going to be for the South Carolina Democratic Party to post, publish, advertise, disseminate, information regarding all democratic primary candidates.  It would not have taken volumes of information on candidates Vic Rawl and Alvin Greene to change the results of that primary, that is, if the primary itself was not corrupted.  If, as some say, the voters just gave it their best shot, which apparently was ABC order, we need to make their best shot a lot more informed.

Finally, after the primary is all said and done, the South Carolina Democratic Party needs to espouse democratic ideals.  We need to stop putting forth candidates that are afraid to say that businesses and the wealthy need to pay a reasonable share of taxes, and to have the data that proves that massive tax cuts for businesses neither considerably increase the number of jobs nor the quality of employment opportunities.  We need to be willing to prove that taxes do good stuff, that government jobs improve the standard of living of South Carolinians.  That good schools and libraries are a better idea than more jails.  That privatizing has cost the taxpayer more for less service.  That businesses need to act with responsibility, and their primary responsibility is to be a member of the community, and not merely to their bottom line.

And our good candidates need to unite; they need to pool resources and get in front of the people of South Carolina, with a united message, and they need to support each other.

In this last shameful election, we had good people who ran because the primary system didn't work, and they were good democrats who were abandoned by the South Carolina Democratic Party.  This is why we lost.  Because we were unable to think our way around this problem.  We could not come forward and support someone like, say, Tom Clements because he was running as a Green Party candidate.  And we couldn't have, say, Vincent Sheheen, another good candidate, form an alliance with this other good candidate.

So here we are, with Nikki Haley and Jim Demint.  Who are not afraid to do whatever it takes to convince voters that they are where the power lies.

The Ironic Cherry on the Icky Political Sundae

Yesterday at the blog that keeps me from going postal at my day job I described the suspension of Keith Olbermann as "the ironic cherry on the icky campaign sundae" that was the 2010 election season.

I liked that.  My first thought was, "ironic cherry" -- Dave Barry would think that was a cool name for a band.  On the other hand, I had been thinking for months about what I would name my new blog.  I planned on retiring my 2010 election season blog when Alvin Greene retired his political career and went back home to Manning with whatever golden parachute he had been promised when he agreed to "run".

So after the band idea, it occurred to me that "The Ironic Cherry" would be a great name for a blog.

Too much irony in politics goes unnoticed and unanswered.  So maybe I'll spend some time ruminating on the odd lies and contradictions that we breathe in every time a politician or a CEO exhales.

Can't hurt.