Attention South Carolina Bloggers

November 30, 2008 · Filed Under SC Politics · 2 Comments

I have been asked to build a South Carolina blogger contact list for press releases and such. The list will be sent to any South Carolina official office or campaign office that asks for it. And yes, it will be available to folks on both sides of the aisle. If you would like to start receiving releases, please email the following to me at wesleydonehue@gmail.com:

1.    Blog/website name
2.    Blog/website url
3.    Your name (if not anonymous)
4.    Email address

Example:

Political Net News
www.politicalnetnews.com
Wesley Donehue
wesleydonehue@gmail.com

Thanks!

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Katon Is On The Move

November 18, 2008 · Filed Under SC Politics · Comment

I’ve talked to a couple of my SCGOP Executive Committee buddies this morning who were on a conference call with Chairman Katon Dawson last night and they’ve given me a couple inside scoops.

First, Katon has asked the Executive Committee to start phone banking every RNC delegate they know. He specifically targeted those who attended this year’s RNC convention, asking them to call everyone they met in Minneapolis.

Also, Robert Cahaly is helping Katon with the grassroots part of his campaign.

I’ll keep you updated as the Katon train moves down the tracks.

CORRECTION - you will see that I corrected the part of this story about Robert Cahaly. New media is amazing, but you can’t believe everything you read. We don’t have editors to approve this stuff and sometimes our sources are full of crap, or just plain made up.

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South Carolina Winners and Losers

November 6, 2008 · Filed Under SC Politics · 5 Comments

Everyone is talking about the national winners and losers, but what about South Carolina? Here are my thoughts.

WINNERS

African Americans
Besides Obama winning the Presidency, Floyd Nicholson’s win gives African Americans another seat in the State Senate. Anton Gunn’s win in the House gives African Americans an extremely talented and articulate voice in the House. And for the first time in history, an African American Republican was elected to the State House. Tim Scott will be an outstanding State Representative.

Bloggers
Bloggers dominated information flow this cycle and the use of Twitter gave them an even faster way to post the latest election developments. Many MSM reporters got their news straight from bloggers and many others began adapting and moving to blogs and Twitter themselves.

SC Democratic Bloggers
For years Republicans have dominated the SC blogosphere, but this year the Democrats really found their voice. Led by the Indigo Journal team of Tim Kelly, Jennifer Reed, and Not Very Bright, the Democrats stepped up to the plate while the Republican bloggers kept arguing and crying like little three year olds. I’m impressed by what they are doing and if they keep it up, their efforts might really start to affect public policy and elections.

Katon Dawson and the SCGOP
The Republican Party was looking at 2-3 losses in the State Senate and close to 5 in the State House. Towards the end Joe Wilson looked threatened and Henry Brown looked dead. Because the Democrats were unable to capitalize, South Carolina remained solidly red. This will give Katon Dawson a big boost in his run for RNC Chair.

Harvey Peeler and the Senate GOP Caucus
In this harsh political environment for Republicans, the State Senate should have lost a good number of seats, but they held strong with a 27-19 majority. This is a huge victory for the Senate Republican team.

Senator Shane Massey
With an African American population of close to 40%, Barack Obama at the top of the ticket, and a well-funded and popular Democratic opponent, everyone expected Shane Massey to go down after only one year in the State Senate. Those who said he would win predicted that he would do so by no more than 100 votes. But through amazingly hard work, African American outreach, great strategy, and good ideas, Senator Shane Massey won by 8.5%.

Jim Merrill and the House GOP Caucus
Like the Senate Republican Caucus, Jim Merrill’s team should have gone down in flames. Phillip Lowe should have lost, Shannon Erickson should have had a much tighter race, and Deborah Long should have been in more trouble than she was. Jim Merrill, Charles Cannon, and Jason Zacher might be pissed at losing two seats, but they should have lost many more in this anti-Republican environment. This is a very big win for Merrill’s team.

Right Wing Conservatives
Kevin Bryant won re-election and Mick Mulvaney, Phil Shoopman, Tom Davis, and Lee Bright are all coming into the Senate. Keep an eye out for this new dynamic.

5th District Republican
Look for John Spratt to get a presidential appointment. When that happens, expect an all out rumble for the GOP nomination to replace him. Wes Hayes, Ralph Norman, Ronnie Cromer, and David Beasely are just a few names you will hear. Vincent Sheheen and Gerald Malloy may step up on the Democratic side.

LOSERS

Social Issues
Did anyone talk about social issues this entire election cycle? We heard a lot about the Lord’s Prayer in the Massey/Anderson race and an extremely liberal email sent by Mandy Powers Norrell in the SD 16 race, but for the most part this election cycle was dominated by immigration, then energy, then the economy. All the while the Christian right remained pretty silent, except to speak out against a Morman candidate. Social conservatives are losing their seat at the table. I hope they reconnect and start getting loud soon or we are going to see or morals slip further away.

Southern Style
With Wallace Scarborough and Greg Gregory leaving Columbia, we will see far less bow ties and seersucker suits. I hope someone will step in and pick up the slack.

Henry Brown
He won, but he got dinged up pretty dang good. Expect a primary challenge on the coast in 2010…if Brown decides to run at all.

Carol Fowler
No one got beat up more than Carol Fowler this year. She should have been able to pick up seats in the State House and Senate, but she couldn’t get the job done. She had a well-funded and articulate candidate against a weak Congressman in a moderate district, and stil couldn’t win it for the national Dems. Who will step up and replace her?

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Speaker Bobby Harrell Slaps Mandy Powers Norrell

November 3, 2008 · Filed Under SC Politics · Comment

South Carolina Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell is using his PLC PAC to give you a little straight talk about Mandy Powers Norrell in the race for SD 16. I’m sure Mick Mulvaney doesn’t mind this one big.

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