Bauer wins re-election

Despite the best efforts of the media, Andre Bauer has been re-elected Lt. Gov. in SC.  Well, actually, I think there is going to be a sacrificial lamb put up by the democrats in November, but Bauer will beat him (her?) as well.

All of this is to say, the media doesn’t really drive elections, except when they cross the line on candidates.  The media has relentlessly hounded Bauer like they were Lynn McGill and his first name was Jack.  Maybe I should break some news for the media: This makes people feel sorry for candidates and then they go vote for them!  I know people who have voted for or not voted for candidates to be opposed to the newspaper.

And right now, that doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me.

Redeploying the propaganda

Ariail, the political cartoonist for The State newspaper had an interesting cartoon in the newspaper this week.  He is comparing the Democratic "redeployment" plan to the Republican characterization of it as "cutting and running".  Now, I am a simple minded guy, but what's the difference?

If you "redeploy", aren't you just pulling out the troops?  By this same logic, people don't get fired from thier jobs, they are just transferred to new ones.  This is ridiculous.  Either we stay and finish the job, or we cut and run.  Calling it redeployment just dresses it up a little.  It is just pure propaganda.

But hey, Ariail, thanks for bringing it up.

The State v Mark Sanford

Well, as you may know by now, The State newspaper smells blood and has started an assault on Mark Sanford and his fiscal policies. To paraphrase, The State doesn't like Mark Sanford because he doesn't like to spend outrageous amounts of taxpayer dollars. He believes that the government shouldn't grow faster than the ability of people to pay for it. He believes that there is no place for pork in the budget. He wants private schools to start educating kids until the public schools show that they can do it adequately. Now, reasonable people can disagree on these issues. I don't really likePPIC, for instance. I'm not against it, I just don't think it will solve our public school problems.

I couldn't agree with Sanford more on fiscal policies, though. Our legislature wins popularity contests every few years because they bring home the pork for thier districts. They bring "state" money back home and the locals are happy because someone else is footing the bill for thier pet projects. Of course, they don't consider that they are paying for it through higher state taxes due to the pet projects of every other district. And this is the problem with state (and federal) government, they spend without abandon, raise people's taxes, and are never held accountable for the damage that they do.

But that is where the media comes in, right? Aren't they supposed to hold people accountable? Only if that person happens to be fiscally conservative, it seems. Tommy Moore will be reported as walking old peopleaccross the street and saving babies for the next few months, and Mark Sanford will be portrayed as some crazy radical who is hurting school children and the mentally ill. In the end, The State will endorse Moore, saying it was an easy decision.

And Mark Sanford will coast to re-election.

Democrats, please crossover, sayeth The State

Brad Warthen, The State newspaper's editor and leading blogger, has been saying for a while that SC Democrats should cast thier votes in tomorrow's GOP primary.  He is an opinion writer, and he has that right.  Of course, he only wants that because he wants Bob Staton to win the Superintendent of Education, and assumes that anti-PPIC Democrats will vote for Staton.  (I happen to plan to vote for Staton, though my vote has nothing to do with PPIC.)  Now, the hard news coverage appears to be trying to remind voters that they can crossover.  I'd like to say that I am surprised, but this is the kind of thing that has lead to sites like this.