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.

This Woman's Place Is In the House

If you live here in Charleston, you probably have seen the commercials.  There are approximately a thousand people who are running to get elected to the US House of Representatives for District 1.  All but two are running on the republican side, and all I have to say about that is, let them have at it.

What's really important is that there are two people running on the Democratic side, and a primary coming up on Tuesday -- that's right, next Tuesday, March 19.

The two candidates come from extremely different backgrounds and offer very different points of view on all the important issues.  So I would like to offer a bit of a pastiche of what each of our candidates have to offer:

Elizabeth Colbert Busch has lived in the Lowcountry since 1969.  She is a College of Charleston graduate, and has a resume that frankly is too amazing to be summed up here, so I will refer you to her website bio.

Ben Frasier lives in Maryland, although he hails from Wadmalaw Island.  His origins and experience have been difficult to verify, and as far as I can tell, he currently either owns or instructs at a driving school in Maryland.  Aware of the controversy his many diverse runs for office have caused, he has made appearances over these past few weeks to assure us all that he is "not a plant."

Colbert Busch believes that if we do not invest in educating our children, they will not be ready for the jobs of the 21st century.

Frasier believes that the solution to the jobs crisis is to "keep looking," and that you may need "two or three jobs to survive."

Colbert Busch knows how to develop partnerships with business and education, as she has in her professional life.  She believes that government is a necessary partner that fuels progress.

Frasier believes in less taxes, smaller government, and giving more control to businesses, for example, through naming rights.

Colbert Busch knows that rampant gun violence requires legislation that protects the rights of individuals who carry guns responsibly, while restricting the use of assault weapons and requiring background checks.

Frasier's gun policy is that "you should be able to buy any weapon and use your common sense."

I could go on, but if you google Ben Frasier, you will find plenty of articles about who he is (or isn't) and where he stands on the important issues we face today.

Colbert Busch has gotten the endorsement of civil rights leader and Georgia Congressman John Lewis as well as our own Representative Jim Clyburn and Mayor Joe Riley.  She has been endorsed by the South Carolina Democratic Women's Council and the AFL-CIO.

On Tuesday, March 19, we need to get ourselves, our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers out to the polls to vote in this incredibly important primary election.  Elizabeth Colbert Busch is the person who can make a difference in our dysfunctional House of Representatives.  Like Elizabeth Warren in the Senate, she will speak out and speak often for the people of this country.

Elizabeth Colbert Busch

U.S. House of Representatives

District 1

Vote Tuesday, March 19

Democratic Primary

It's Complicated

Let's imagine for a moment that Ben Frasier, perennial South Carolina candidate who is now running for the US House seat vacated by Tim Scott, is not a Republican plant. Suppose that he really is a hard-working man, born and raised here, who really just wants to make his family proud by serving his government.

If that were true, he would still be in way over his head.

Frasier tends to throw out short, simple bits of his political philosophy, sometimes contradicting himself in a single statement.  Like his Republican counterparts, his mantra is smaller government, less regulations, and "lower taxes for everything."  His lower taxes stance is immediately followed by an absolute "no" to any defense cuts and a pronouncement that his "small social security check is not enough."

In a question-and-answer session on James Island last night with his primary opponent, Elizabeth Colbert-Busch, Frasier at times appeared to be at a loss for an answer to complex questions, more than once taking his turn to respond by basically saying, "What she just said."

He does have some unusual and concerning points of view:

To the question of how to increase jobs for the poor in South Carolina, he replied "keep looking."  He indicated that the path to reducing home foreclosures was by taking more jobs, and that may mean "maybe two to three jobs to survive."  He added that "illegals underbid (jobs) in business."

On the subject of defense spending, Frasier said at one point that we need to "quit turning our backs on our friends abroad, because soon we'll have none."  Later in the evening, he reasserted his opposition to military cuts because the enemy "could be the person sitting next to you."

Which, although a strange idea, at least concurred with his opinion on gun control (I think).  Frasier is 100% right-wing on the issue of gun control.  He believes "you should be able to buy any weapon and use your common sense."

While Ben Frasier's comments during the course of the evening were often confusing, contradictory and lacked substance, his roots are in the Lowcountry (although most of his time is spent in Maryland).  He is pleasant and sounds sincere.

But the fact is, the issues out there today are far too important, and complicated, to entrust to someone whose heart is in the right place.  His logic is very often flawed, his positions inexplicable.

In contrast to Frasier, Colbert-Busch has a depth of knowledge and understanding of the issues.  She is also a Lowcountry native, and has worked her way up to a career that combines educational research with business partnerships in the field of renewable energy.  This, she says, is where lies the future of jobs in South Carolina.

She is well aware of the need for better quality education for all, and points to the importance not only of improving education for Pre-K through Grade 5, but of not abandoning our children through their middle and high school years.

So in this Democratic primary on March 19, it is critical that we get out the vote, vote smart, and all those neat buzzwords.  We have the opportunity to vote for a candidate who can truly move South Carolina, and the country, forward.

And the choice we need to make on March 19, and then on May 7, is really not complicated at all.

He's Ba-ack!

Yes, it's just as certain as Punxsutawney Phil coming up on February 2.  The gnats always come out in the spring, and here in South Carolina, Ben Frasier will surely pop up at election time.  We had been wondering where he was in the fall, but he may have that same kind of sixth sense as our favorite groundhog, because instead, here he is, running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House District 1.

Less successful than our groundhog friend and more annoying than a gnat, his motivations have left some scratching their heads, and others, no less than Jim Clyburn, spitting.  In 2008, Will Moredock wrote that Frasier has "been a thorn in the side of the Democratic party for 20 years."  He is pro-Confederate flag, anti-abortion, anti-gay, and the only sensible reason one would think he has for running as a Democrat is that he is a Republican plant.

In 2004, as a warm-up to Jim DeMint, Frasier ran against Inez Tenebaum in the primary for U.S. Senate.  In 2008, when Alvin Greene was distracting us in the Senate race against DeMint, he wasted Linda Ketner's time and resources by challenging her in the primary for U.S. House District 1.  Which appears pretty much to be his game.

There doesn't seem to be much information about him floating around.  But we do know that he has a residence in Maryland and claims to own a driving school there (he is not listed as an owner, merely as one of several instructors).  His online bio at the driving school site claims that he is a retired federal police officer and has a law degree from the USP Academy, which is NOT the US Police Academy and does NOT offer law degrees, but DOES have very weird annoying sound effects on its site and appears to be located in India.  (Please correct me if I am  wrong.)  And you might also want to get a closer look at the Potomac Driving School.  The customer reviews are worth your time.

He apparently has a residence on Wadmalaw Island, a voter registration card and drivers license in South Carolina, which has been good enough for the SC Board of Elections.

Now if I were going to draw some conclusions from all this, I would have to say the expression "con artist" comes to mind.  Just as Alvin Greene was unlikely to have funded his 2008 campaign, I imagine that running in all these various and sundry races may be very lucrative for Mr. Frasier.

Or maybe not.  Perhaps he is just a concerned citizen who has a law degree and owns a driving school in Maryland and really, really believes that South Carolina needs his Democratic vision.