Tweet The main spur was when a sign — actually, two of them — appeared in the yard of a neighbor. That one was for Chris Smith, who’s one of three Republicans also seeking the Senate seat from which Nikki Setzler is retiring. None of those three has given me any reason to want him as my senator. More about them later. As I’ve said before, for me as a voter, this is about Democrats Russell Ott and Dick Harpootlian. This remains to me the most interesting SC legislative contest of 2024. It would seem so even if I didn’t happen to live in the district. And between the two, I’m planning to vote f ..read more

Tweet OK, I’m going to conduct an experiment here. Please help me out. The last couple of weeks, E.J. Dionne has had two really excellent columns. There’s nothing unusual about that. But there’s something new — or something that I hadn’t previously noticed — about them. Here’s the first: In 2024, Joe Biden is the conservative & the progressive. He’s trying to preserve our institutions against Trump’s onslaught & is the most progressive president since the Reagan Era. He needs to show that safety & progress go together My column free access https://t.co/LQ2hCrwi50 — EJ Dionne (@EJ ..read more

Tweet I get multiple texts every day — not to mention all the emails — asking me for money for electoral candidates. Usually, they’re Democrats — because of all the lists they must have put me on when I was with James Smith’s campaign. But not all. Today, I’ve heard from folks raising money for Joe Biden (and I just gave him $25 a couple of weeks ago — surely he hasn’t spent it already!), Dick Harpootlian and some guy named Dave. That last one cracked me up: I had no idea who this Dave was. Actually, he addresses my wife in the message, but there’s no point in asking whether she knows him, b ..read more

Tweet ‘Hints’ are not, and were never, enough… Finally, Nikki Haley has a headline she can cut out and frame, if she has access to a print edition: Nikki Haley Wins the Washington, D.C., Primary, Ending Trump’s Streak Not that it means much. Do any Republicans actually live in D.C.? Is there not a local ordinance against that? But we cherish whatever we have to celebrate. Meanwhile, on Super Tuesday — possibly her last day in the race — she’s still trying to figure out who she is and how she wants to run. And she’s REALLY confused about her primary opponent, and the man the GOP nominee will ..read more

Tweet OK, here’s another point I’ve made many times before, but the reporting on the Michigan Democratic primary offered another illustration of it. There is one predominant “bias” in news reporting, and it’s very harmful to the country. It’s journalists’ addiction to conflict. This is very harmful to the country. (Another one that may be just as harmful is the tendency to explain and interpret everything, from global security to pop culture trivia, in terms of the next election. But that’s somewhat less relevant to what I’m writing about today.) I don’t think reporters and editors are doing ..read more

Tweet Haven’t seen our lieutenant governor in a while? I certainly hadn’t. But then I saw the above image in The Boston Globe over the weekend. Which prompted two thoughts: Y’all may get tired of hearing me say this, but I haven’t said it in four years, so: Had we won in 2018, you wouldn’t have gone long periods without hearing or seeing Mandy Powers Norrell. And we’d all be better off for that. As the first lieutenant governor elected alongside the governor in our state’s history, she would have been front and center, playing a vital and energetic role in making South Carolina a better plac ..read more

Tweet I actually meant to write a little bit more about it over the last couple of days, but was busy. I had to take my Mom to the emergency room Friday, and she (and I) spent the night there and she didn’t get discharged until late Saturday afternoon. She’s better now, I’m happy to say. So I got home pretty wiped out from the hospital, and might have commented on the vote last night, but my wife and I went to a performance of the South Carolina Philharmonic, which we thoroughly enjoyed — especially the Gershwin at the end. So, if you followed the primary last night, we had more fun than you ..read more

Tweet The Op-Ed Page Photo by Gage Skidmore, via Wikipedia By Paul V. DeMarco Guest Columnist Rarely does a state have an opportunity to make history the way we do on Feb. 24 in the Republican presidential primary election. South Carolina may be Nikki Haley’s last chance to derail Donald Trump’s path to the nomination. It will be hard for Haley to justify remaining in the race until Super Tuesday without a strong showing here. I won’t rehearse all the reasons Trump is bad for America, just two quick points. First, Republicans could get all they say they want – conservative policies, family v ..read more

Tweet Ott leaving the scene of his announcement today… So far, at least. I just started paying attention. But it won’t surprise me if this remains the most interesting. I didn’t take an interest in this one until I saw Sen. Dick Harpootlian lashing out at Rep Russell Ott last week, and realized these two very different Democrats would be facing each other in a primary in June. It wasn’t until today that I finally realized that this is the Senate district I live in! I mean, I knew Nikki Setzler, whose sign I’ve been proud to post in my yard in recent years, would no longer be my senator. But ..read more

Tweet I mean, it was easy in terms of not having to wait in a line, and the weather was nice, and the pollworkers were all helpful and professional… But in other senses… I showed up at my usual voting place — for the Quail Hollow precinct — and was greeted by the sign you see below. Which made me wonder, WTH, but when I got to Gray Collegiate, one of the pollworkers — who normally works the Saluda River site — explained to me that the party, trying to save money, had asked for the reduction in polling places, to save money. The arrows were helpful, since I’d never been here before… OK that ..read more