Yesterday the Vic Rawl for US Senate Campaign began its “uphill” kickoff tour from the coast to the mountains. We crossed a state struggling and waiting for a new US senator.
The tour was uphill because it ran from South Carolina’s coast, where the historic gardens of Charleston are greening towards an explosion of Azaelias, over the sand hills and through the State Capital to the manufacturing cities of the Piedmont. We gained over a thousand feet in elevation in the course of the day.
It’s also uphill because Vic’s opponent, Jim “Waterloo” Demint is constantly reported to have a campaign fund of over three million dollars. Our fund, which has doubled in the last 24 hours, is a few million less. Some people conclude the incumbent’s lead in special interest cash exempts DeMint from having to run a real campaign.
The day began with the campaign website went online with flikr, twitter and youtube feeds. You can view it's evolving content at www.vicrawl.com.
READ THE EXTENDED TEXT TO FIND OUT HOW THE TRIP WENT
Vic Rawl, a former prosecutor, Circuit Court Judge, State Legislator and current Member of Charleston County Council announced a cross state tour on Monday, March 8 to announce his candidacy for the United States Senate this morning. If he receives the Democratic nomination, Rawl will stand against Jim "Waterloo" DeMint in the November 2010 general election for the privilege of representing the State of South Carolina in the US Senate.
A Facebook group is functioning to bring together supporters of the campaign.
The press release reads as follows:
Rawl To Announce Campaign for US Senate
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- 3/3/2010- 9:51 AM
Vic Rawl, former State Legislator, Judge, Prosecutor and current member of Charleston County Council will open his campaign to represent South Carolina in the United States Senate with a day long tour from the coast to the mountains on Monday, March 8.
Rawl will begin the tour at 10 am in front of the Lonnie Hamilton County Services Building 4045 Bridge View Dr, in North Charleston, SC. In case of rain, the announcement will be made inside the building’s rotunda.
The Campaign will move to Columbia, SC for a 1 pm press conference at SC Democratic Party Headquarters at 1529 Hampton St.
The Tour will conclude with appearances at both the Spartanburg and Greenville County Democratic Party Conventions that evening between 6 and 8 pm.
The Campaign’s online presence will activate that morning with a Website, Twitter, and Facebook presence.
The campaign tour can be reached on cell phone that day at (843) 343-9486. Updates will be posted on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Rawl_for_Se... throughout the day with links to internet and video content.
Interesting find today: Looks like the workers on a project to revamp the entrance and parking lot of the Fort Moultrie visitors center on Sullivan's Island are among those that have been furloughed because of a block on key legislation by Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning.
The Bunning furloughs have shut down work on projects worth tens of millions of dollars which affect 2,000 employees in 20 states and Washington, DC.
"As American families are struggling in tough economic times, I am keenly disappointed that political games are putting a stop to important construction projects around the country," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "This means that construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed."
The project underway at the Fort Moultrie visitors center is a $262,000 project for "entrance road and parking area rehabilitation." Park officials confirmed Monday that the project is on hold.
I'll be at the Dorchester Democrat's Summerville, SC BBQ tonight (Sat. Feb. 27, 2010) with my video camera shooting short comments on SC Senator Jim DeMint's decision to lead a Republican Senate Filibuster against a bill passed by the House which would allow Native Hawians to have the same soverign nation status as other recognized Native Peoples in the United States.
We plan to shoot short comments from those present apologizing to the native people of Hawii for Jim Demint. Speakers can assure them we respect them as both members of a unique culture and fellow Citizens of the United States. You can thank them for our President if you like. We'll be giving you a pineapple to hold as a prop. You can speak from notes of off the cuff.
We'll edit the best comments together on Youtube and send them as a video shout out to the native people of Hawii.
Jim DeMint routinely neglets the needs of the people of South Carolina to oppose our President. He also constantly obstructs on issues which have nothing to do with our state's needs and which alienate other members of Congress unnecessarily. While some of these are genuine conservative priorities, many would more properly be addressed by Republicans from other states. DeMint makes enemies for South Carolina which diminish our standing in the Congress and damage the ablity of all our Congressmen and Senators in Washington to represent our state.
We'll try to find a quiet, well lit place out of the way to do the shoot so we don't disrupt the party. All Democrats are welcome this evening. You can find full details on the event at http://www.dordems.org/?page_id=2 This effort is not endorsed by any candidate.
Leading Democratic Senate candidate Chad McGowan announced Wednesday that he is ending his brief bid to unseat Republican Sen. Jim DeMint.
"I've come to the conclusion that now is the wrong time for me to mount a successful campaign for the United States Senate," said McGowan. "The demands of a young family place a premium on every minute. There is nothing more important to me than my wife and three small children. In order to fulfill my duties as a husband and a father, I'll be leaving the race for United States Senate effective immediately."
The Rock Hill attorney thanked his supporters and said he would be offering full refunds to each of his contributors. Since announcing his Senate bid in October, the conservative Democrat has raised almost $250,000, a respectable figure but well shy of DeMint's $3.2 million cash on hand.
McGowan's unexpected departure from the race leaves retired automotive executive Mike Ruckes of Summerville and North Myrtle Beach resident Gary Stephens as the only declared Democratic candidates. However, according to FEC records, neither Ruckes nor Stephens have any cash on hand to wage competitive campaigns.
So will S.C. Democrats be able to field a viable challenger to DeMint in the fall?
Currently, Charleston County Councilman Vic Rawl is weighing a possible Senate bid, but has not formally announced his intentions. Another name being thrown around is current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mullins McLeod, who is facing a competitive five-way primary battle. McLeod has the ability to self-finance and the campaign infrastructure in place to hit the ground running; however, McLeod's campaign said Wednesday that the Charleston attorney remains committed to the governor's race.
Democrats have until the end of March to find a credible candidate to run in November.
Edited, February 15 to reflect new bill proposing to repeal this law.
Earlier this week the realization erupted that the State of South Carolina had a program and legal requirement for subversive organizations to file a registration form with the SC Secretary of State’s Office. This little tidbit was picked up by the Huffington Post and made the rounds on Twitter and facebook. It telegraphed through the right wing videoverse on YouTube.
Since it fits in well with the South Carolina as running national joke storyline that our elected leaders regularly sustain with trips to Argentina and plans to starve stray school children, it transmitted well through the blogosphere. See the Huffington Post note here.
I called the SC Secretary of State’s office to find out what was going on. The clerk I spoke to had never heard of the form in question, though she found a PDF of it on the office’s server. She pulled it up and admitted she had never saeen it before. See the form here.
I asked them to call back when they got to the bottom of it.
READ THE EXTENDED TEXT BELOW TO SEE IF YOU NEED TO FILE
Yesterday, Politics is Power.com kicked off a voter registration drive called "The Wake Up Tour 2010.” The tour was given this title because of the lack of voter turn out in off year elections. This is high in African American Communities. The purpose of this project is to register as many African Americans (both youth and adults) to vote in this year’s congressional and state-wide elections in SC. Statistics have shown that the average African American turn out for Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections are less then 11%.
Our first stop was in Blythewood, SC. Yesterday, we attended the "Behind Music Gospel Concert.” This was held at Little Zion Baptist Church on Winnsboro Road. The program also had a panel discussion on Hip Hop and Holy Hip Hop. After the program we were able to register a good number of voters.
Our goal now is to try to get to as many major and minor events around SC. If you would like for PIP to come to your church or event, let us know by e-mailing us at politicsispower@gmail.com.
This is in consideration of the plan put forward by Jim Rex, candidate for South Carolina Governor concerning the use of an increase in the cigarette tax to pay for education first and then health care.
While this is a out of the box idea, you have to watch out on funding education from a sales based activity. This thought process has gotten South Carolina into a lot of trouble by basing service funding off of sales based taxes. What's worse, if you read the article, Governor Sanford will allow an increase in the cigarette tax but offset it with a decrease in income or other taxes. How idiotic of Republicans once again, the State is in dire straits already and this would make it worse.
This entire thought process is unimagineable by the Republican Leadership and the question that has to be asked, are you kidding me? The basics of revenue generation for the government is not rocket science but the Republicans in South Carolina somehow missed those classes when they went to college.
What should be done is the increase in the cigarette tax would fund Human Services, Medicaid, and Tobacco use reduction programs, all of these areas are under stress from the smoking related health issues anyway. This would fund these services from these additional funds and create less stress on general income tax revenues, which could be redirected into education.
Education should be funded fully off of the property tax, without being exempted as currently. But a more targeted approach can provide property tax relief and also improve state funding for public education, according to this new report by Daphne A. Kenyon, a visiting fellow at the Lincoln Institute. State governments who have tried to reduce property taxes and improve school performance at the same time have not met with much success according to the report. Arguing that the use of property tax revenue for schools is fundamentally sound, the report points out that increasing state aid for education does not necessarily result in lower property taxes, and it cautions against switching to greater reliance on a sales tax to fund schools. The report also recommends a targeted approach, distributing state aid for public education to the neediest school districts, schools, and students.
We have to all agree it makes no sense to allow cigarettes in South Carolina to have the lowest tax when smoking related illnesses in the State put a strain on the health services in the State.
Charleston Democrats to Seize Saturday with Yes to Rational Solutions, No to Fear Event
N. Charleston, SC- Charleston County Democrats will respond to President Obama’s challenge that, “We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment – to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.” with a full day of activities Saturday, January 30th. This event will challenge the message of fear expected at the Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly event at the North Charleston Coliseum with a grass roots effort to explore rational solutions to the nation’s major problems of energy, economic development and jobs, education, health care and a productive political culture.
A breakfast featuring a debate between Candidates for Congress, Four topical forums, a legislative role-playing exercise, phone bank and digital presence initiative are planned for the day.
FULL UPDATED DETAILS AND LINKS IN THE EXTENDED TEXT
Like you, I am disgusted by Lt. Governor Andre Bauer's comments comparing poor school children to stray animals. It amazes me how some Republican politicians who campaign on Christian values continue to do and say such unchristian things.
Blaming hungry children for their economic situation and threatening to withhold food and nutrition is just plain wrong. It's much more than a poor choice of words, and all South Carolinians, Democrats and Republicans, should join us in denouncing Bauer's divisive comments.
I've decided to make this negative into something positive and I need your help.
Thursday, January 28, South Carolina Republicans are paying as much as $500 each to watch Andre Bauer and the other GOP gubernatorial candidates debate in Charleston. While they're forking over big bucks to their political party, I'll be across the street at Vickery's collecting food for the Lowcountry Food Bank to help the very kids Bauer compared to stray animals.
I hope that some of the Republicans attending and participating in the debate will also contribute, but we need your help, especially if you live in the Charleston Area, to ensure success.
Will you help us by stopping by Vickery's anytime from 5:30 P.M. until 6:30 P.M. Thursday and donating nonperishable food?
Join me Thursday to help deserving children and their families -
· Food drive for needy families
· Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 5:30PM until 6:30 PM
· Vickery's at 15 Beaufain Street in Charleston
Contact Andrew for more information or questions at mcleodforgovernor@gmail.com
A small fragment of the Wando riverfront forest survives at Etiwan point.
I visited the walking trail which passes through a bit of green space saved from Mt. Pleasant’s rolling sprawl on Saturday. Below and to the South West of where the Wando River Bridge crosses the water, are a few acres and a short trail which allow residents here to see what the vast riverfront forest of my childhood was like.
It is nearly all gone now. Places we struggled to reach in our boats forty years ago are now suburban streets. Vast stands of pine trees have been leveled for highways. Places we camped are unrecognizable. In most places the green riverfront is inaccessible to anyone but the landowner who purchased it.
Andre Bauer's remarks analogizing feeding South Carolina's poor to feeding stray animals at a Republican political event last week didn't contain content unfamiliar to anyone who has listened to talk radio or read newspaper comment boards in South Carolina for the past several years. What it does represent is an alarming eruption of this sort of race and class hatred into the highest and most public component of political diologue among South Carolina conservatives, the race for Governor.
What was once recognized as the sort of thought voiced and destributed by fringe elements has clearly saturated the right wing continuum. Worse things are on the way, based on what I've seen in the states mental pipeline, which resembles an intellectual sewar flowing from the back waters of the Aryian Nations.
Bauer's statement fits with recent complaints from the state treasuer that people benefitting from the Federal Stimulus Program tended not to pay taxes. SC Republicans have elected to abandon the war on povrety and want to wage war on the poor.
The Fair Elections Now Act (S.752, H.R.1826), is an answer to the ridiculous amount of money influencing Washington; which will increase with the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing corporate money into campaigns. The people of America spoke in 2008 and continue to speak today, they want their government back.
This bill would allow federal candidates to run for office without relying on large contributions, big money bundlers, donations from lobbyists, or now money from corporations. Members of Congress would be freed from the constant fundraising in order to focus on what people in their communities want and not the needs of the special interests.
The Fair Elections Now Act (S.752, H.R.1826), a bipartisan bill that was introduced in both chambers of Congress in 2009, would allow Congressional candidates to run for office using small donations and limited public financing, and not take any large contributions. Currently 6 U.S. Senators, 125 Members of the House, and 40 CEO's support this legislation.
• Candidates would raise a large number of small contributions from their communities in order to qualify for Fair Elections funding. Contributions are limited to $100.
• No contributions, fundraising, or bundling will be allowed from PACs or Corporations.
• Participating candidates could take only individual contributions of $100 or less for their leadership PACs.
• The Fair Elections fund will be fully financed and revenue neutral, with no funding from individual taxpayers.
In 2008, a poll by Lake Research Partners and the Tarrance Group, 67% support providing qualified congressional candidates a limited amount of public funding if they agree to take no large contributions. This support came from 69% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 66% of independents all showing strong support.
Where do we already have public financing?
At the state level, Arizona, Connecticut, Maine and New Jersey, North Carolina, Vermont, and a number of cities have some level of public financing for state and local elections.
Presidential Public Financing
We already have public financing of Presidential Campaigns and a key goal of the presidential fund was to free candidates from the corporations and special interests. To be eligible for public funds, a Presidential candidate or a party convention committee must first submit a letter of agreement and a written certification in which the candidate or committee agrees to:
Spend public funds only for campaign-related expenses or, in the case of a party convention, for convention-related expenses;
Limit spending to amounts specified by the campaign finance law;
Keep records and, if requested, supply evidence of qualified expenses;
Cooperate with an audit of campaign or convention expenses;
Repay public funds, if necessary; and
Pay any civil penalties imposed by the Federal Election Commission.
What are some of the advantages over private financing:
Public financing curbs the influence of wealthy donors over politicians.
Public financing allows candidates with limited resources to seek office, broadening the prospects for greater citizen participation.
Public financing allows politicians to spend more time serving their constituents, and less time raising money.
It is time to return the control of government back to the people, not the corporations and not the lobbyists. The time to change how Washington does business is now. This bill will be the change necessary to improve public confidence in their elected representatives in Washington; especially considering the move by the Supreme Court. I encourage all Members of Congress to support this bipartisan effort to return our government back to the people. It is the people's government, not the special interests and/or corporations.
Charleston attorney Ashley Cooper will enter the race for South Carolina lieutenant governor on Wednesday, sources tell Indigo Journal.
Cooper will announce his intention to seek the Democratic nomination via web video on his new campaign website, CooperforSC.com.
The Lowcountry native is a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in Charleston and a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law and Clemson University. A married father of two, Cooper formerly served as legislative director for Democratic U.S. Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings.
Cooper is the first Democrat to enter the lieutenant governor's race. Republicans seeking the number two job include Florence County Councilman Ken Ard, retired Army Lt. Col. Bill Connor, and state Rep. Tim Scott.
We do our best here at IJ to keep our focus on the Palmetto State, but every now and then we find ourselves being sucked into some other state's politics. And today our eyes, along with the rest of the nation's, are focused squarely on Massachusetts and what promises to be a nail-biter of a special election to fill Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat.
Today Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown square off in an election that will have significant consequences for all American's ability to gain access to affordable health insurance. If Coakley loses, Democrats will lose their magic 60th seat in the U.S. Senate, which could dramatically alter the outcome of the health care reform bill still being hammered out by Congress. It will also serve as a 2010 rallying cry for conservatives, who have channeled all their hopes and resources into scooping up the liberal icon's former seat.
Yesterday the Vic Rawl for US Senate Campaign began its “uphill” kickoff tour from the coast to the mountains. We crossed a state struggling and waiting for a new US senator.
Vic Rawl, a former prosecutor, Circuit Court Judge, State Legislator and current Member of Charleston County Council announced a cross state tour on Monday, March 8 to announce his candidacy for the United States Senate this morning. If he receives the Democratic nomination, Rawl will stand against Jim "Waterloo" DeMint in the November 2010 general election for the privilege of representing the State of South Carolina in the US Senate.
the details about this issue at 
Since it fits in well with the South Carolina as running national joke storyline that our elected leaders regularly sustain with trips to Argentina and plans to starve stray school children, it transmitted well through the blogosphere. See the 
N. Charleston, SC- Charleston County Democrats will respond to President Obama’s challenge that, “We don’t quit. I don’t quit. Let’s seize this moment – to start anew, to carry the dream forward, and to strengthen our union once more.” with a full day of activities Saturday, January 30th. This event will challenge the message of fear expected at the Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly event at the North Charleston Coliseum with a grass roots effort to explore rational solutions to the nation’s major problems of energy, economic development and jobs, education, health care and a productive political culture.
A small fragment of the Wando riverfront forest survives at Etiwan point.
Andre Bauer's remarks analogizing feeding South Carolina's poor to feeding stray animals at a Republican political event last week didn't contain content unfamiliar to anyone who has listened to talk radio or read newspaper comment boards in South Carolina for the past several years. What it does represent is an alarming eruption of this sort of race and class hatred into the highest and most public component of political diologue among South Carolina conservatives, the race for Governor. 
Charleston attorney Ashley Cooper will enter the race for South Carolina lieutenant governor on Wednesday, sources tell Indigo Journal.
