South Carolina and the social ramble
The state that leads the nation in political sex scandals
South Carolina and the social ramble
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
The weather is hot and tempers are short - John McCain: "Complete the dang fence!" Barack Obama: "Plug the damn hole!" - so perhaps today we should forgo the weighty issues in favor of something that will go down nice and easy, like a gin and tonic.
And where better to have fun in the sun than South Carolina? Seriously, if the cable programmers at Showtime are in the hunt for yet another racy series, they'd be well advised to simply call it "South Carolina." Few other states can boast of a political culture that yields such rich true-life material – as evidenced by the new not-so-Harlequin tale of the lady and the blogger.
We’ll get to that one in a moment. But first, let’s stipulate that no fictional script can compete with this state's track record for slime; after all, this is the place where conservative activists spread the false rumor, back in the 2000 GOP presidential primary, that candidate John McCain had fathered an illegitimate black baby. (They presumably were unaware that South Carolina icon/segregationist Strom Thurmond actually had fathered an illegitimate black baby.)
Let's also stipulate that nothing in the fiction realm can top the '09 saga of Mark Sanford, the conservative "love guv" who flew off to Argentina at state expense to meet his mistress while aides claimed he was soulfully trekking on the Appalachian Trail...although, on second thought, we do have these other promising plot arcs, all of very recent vintage:
The Republican state comptroller general is said to have engaged in extramarital sex with a Republican candidate who's vying to become the state superintendent of education. A deputy assistant state attorney general was recently fired after he was caught in his car (in a cemetery, no less) with a stripper, sex toys, and a Viagra pill. The lieutenant governor, who's vying in a June primary to become the '10 GOP gubernatorial nominee, has long been trying to fend off rumors that he is gay; so perhaps he was merely trying to demonstrate manly toughness, back in January, when he said that giving publicly-subsidized meals to poor people was akin to feeding stray animals ("My grandmother...told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed").
But nothing skews the slimemeter like the allegations this week about the lady and the blogger. South Carolina has fittingly broken new ground. Is there something in the water down there? Never before (at least to my knowledge) has a male conservative blogger come forward to volunteer that he had a sexual affair with a married female "family values" candidate - in this case, Nikki Haley, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful who is being touted as "pro-family" by Sarah Palin.
In our brave new digital world, anyone can go online and post anything. Two days ago, a political consultant named Will Folks declared on his own blog, a popular South Carolina political tip sheet, that he had slept with Haley when he worked for her back in 2007. He offered no proof. Haley, a state legislator, denounced the blog post as "categorically and totally false," contended that she has been "100 percent faithful" to her husband during their 13 wedded years, and insisted that she was being smeared only because she had opened up a double-digit lead in the polls on the eve of the June GOP gubernatorial primary.
What's weird is that Will Folks (the name is fit for a Grisham novel) considers himself a Haley supporter. He says that one of Haley's gubernatorial rivals (not the gay-rumored lieutenant governor) has been shopping the Folks-Haley sex story around, so Folks decided to preempt the rival by coming clean on his blog. ("I decided I would get ahead of it...in a way that was respectful to Nikki"). Why he assumed that his preemptive confession would help Haley is a mystery. This is a guy who's supposed to know a few things about public relations; he used to be Gov. Mark Sanford's press spokesman. And the love guv also happens to be Haley's mentor. And the love guv's ex-wife, Jenny, has endorsed Haley.
I told you, it's impossible to make this stuff up.
Anyway, Folks is not happy with Haley's denial. He reportedly said yesterday: "Nikki says it’s categorically false. The problem...is it’s categorically true. There will be a very aggressive effort mounted to obtain all of the data that will corroborate what I’ve said." Translation: he supposedly has emails and text messages that prove the liaison, and intends to make them public.
What's fascinating here is that Haley is the rare married female politician to be accused of an extramarital affair. It's the guys who generally get in trouble for that; witness, most recently, Indiana congressman Mark Souder and Nevada senator John Ensign. It will be interesting to see whether Haley's gubernatorial candidacy takes a hit - one South Carolina political analyst said Monday that an accusation of infidelity is "the only way to really attack a female candidate" - or whether, in the absence of proof, she garners a major sympathy vote, thus greasing her win in the GOP primary.
To help ensure the latter, Haley aired a new TV ad yesterday, referencing both "the grace of God" and Sarah Palin. She also insisted in a statement that the sex charge "is quite simply South Carolina politics at its worst."
We'll see about that. The century is still young. Maybe our Palmetto friends would be wise to heed the advice of the late, great pitcher Satchel Paige: "Go very light on the vices...The social ramble ain't restful."
This was an amusing piece that showcased the arrogant northern mentality, as if the Yankee experience is so pristine and moral. Let's see, NY governor and a call girl, NJ governor and another dude, PA State Treasurer does a televised suicide, and Kennedys just having fun. I'll have a twist of lime with that gin & tonic, please...— Mark Glaeser
Comment removed.- Still Independent- Even with the tax increases, the bill is projected to add $134 billion to the federal budget deficit. The link is below. I guess Congress added a lot to this bill so despite a tax increase on oil the bill adds to the deficit. Not to mention that I believe an additional tax on oil is an additional tax on everyone with higher gas prices........... http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/congress_plans_to_quadruple_oi.html
- PAEnglish, Hussein did use WMD against his own and our inability to take him out occurred during the failed, liberal, weak-kneed, Democrat administration of George H W Bush.— JimR
- larry - I guess your talking about McCain with igniting a blaze on an aircraft carrier a killing 100 men. Being ex-Navy and somebody who for training purposes had to watch the film of the Forrestal fire I am highly insulted by that. It was McCain's A-4 that was hit by an accidentally fired Zuna rocket from an F-4. Your invoking the death of a 134 sailors to get in a stupid dig on McCain is the lowest form of hatred performed only by the scum of the earth. http://www.blah3.com/article.php?story=20070122183950855— Mike Welbourn
- It is great to see so many people bash Bush for creating a deficit by borrowing from the Chinese, yet they let pass Obama borrowing $862 Billion for a non-stimulating stimulus bill all from the Chinese. Then we have the omnibus spending bill he signed when first in office, with an 8% discretionary spending increase, followed by a second omnibus spending bill with a 12% discretionary spending increase, all the while saying it was emergency spending needed to stimulate the economy, which has still not been stimulated, and all of which was borrowed from the Chinese. Now Congress is proposing another "jobs" bill (wasn't the stimulus supposed to create 3 million new jobs?) which will add another $130+ Billion to the deficit. Included in this jobs bill is $65 Billion for the Medicare "Doc Fix" (which was supposed to be cut according to the healthcare bill); $47 Billion for extended unemployment; $24 Billion in Medicaid payments to the states; $24 Billion for "Build America Bonds"; $7.8 Billion in COBRA subsidies; $4.6 Billion in payments to minority farmers; $2.8 Billion in welfare payments; $2.8 Billion in aid to localities; $1.5 Billion disaster relief for farmers; $1.1 Billion for low income housing. Why is it called a "jobs" bill? It also has $1 billion for summer jobs and $500 Million for small business loans. So, someone tell me how many jobs this bill is going to create with money all borrowed from the Chinese.— tom - wilmington, de
- Comment removed.
- James Carville, Donna Brazille, Paul Begala, Chris Matthews, lots of other liberals all bashing Obama for his failed response to the oil spill. New sanctions on Iran were obtained from Russia only in return for allowing them to sell anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, and for taking four Russian firms off of sanctions for their dealings with Iran. Meanwhile Putin is in Syria promising cooperation on nuclear technology. Obama send letters to North Korea, they respond with nuclear tests and sinking a South Korean ship. Europe is teetering on the brink of collapse, and Obama is golfing and playing basketball (when he isn't fundraising), all the while more oil is washing ashore. Louisiana asked for permission to build berms to prevent the oil from reaching shore, and Obama's administration needs to first conduct an environmental impact study. Louisiana asked the EPA to halt the use of submersable dispersants, which they did only after BP dumped 55,000 gallons of the stuff, then the EPA backed off after BP refused to stop using it (that type of dispersant keeps the oil under the water, where it can contaminate fisheries). Obama criticizes McCain for wanting to form a deficit commission, then as president he appoints one. Obama criticized Hillary for wanting a mandate to purchase health insurance, then he signs a bill that contains one. Now we have another commission to study the cause of the BP disaster, instead of a president ordering the use of supertankers to suck up the oil (it was used on a spill in the Middle East) before it reaches shore, or at least getting a coordinated effort on what to do and how best to do it. This is what happens when a community organizer is elected to a position that requires leadership and decision making.— tom - wilmington, de
- NEPhilly, just because Clinton said something, and he is a Democrat, doesn't mean I agree with him. And yes, my true colors are showing. I'm a Quaker. While I am not totally a pacifist, I do believe that war should be the very last resort. And I don't ever think preemptive war is OK. Those are my true colors. I think the Democrats were wrong to agree to Iraq, and I don't mind saying so. I'm not a sheep just because I lean to the left.— NigeltheMastiff
- From the AP..."WASHINGTON (AP) - The economic rebound last quarter turned out to be slower than first thought, one of the reasons unemployment is likely to stay high this year. The economy grew at a 3 percent annual rate from January to March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That was slightly weaker than an initial estimate of 3.2 percent a month ago. The new reading, based on more complete information, also fell short of economists' forecast for stronger growth of 3.4 percent. The reasons for the small downgrade: consumers spent less than first estimated. Same goes for business spending on equipment and software. And, the nation's trade deficit was a bigger drag on economic activity." So much for being back from the brink.— tom - wilmington, de
- Tom, I happen to agree with you that Obama hasn't done enough about the oil spill. I can barely think about it. I think we've just killed the Gulf of Mexico. I heard on one of the Sun. talk shows that the feds, by law, were prohibited from getting directly involved in the clean-up, that BP is responsible for that. Does anyone know anything about that? Is there such a law? How stupid, if so.— NigeltheMastiff
- Well, here's some happy news: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jMF5ANvJVvPYsDd7cnmkXkZglGRwD9FV4ODG0. The gist of it is that Blumenthal's once commanding lead of 61%-28% over the whackjob lady wrestler has shrunk to a mere 56%-31%...Yeah, she's got a chance! Regarding the oil spill, I'm not sure what all of you who think Obama is doing such a bad job think he should be doing. Is he supposed to be down there in a diving suit sticking his fingers in the hole or something? As the Coast Guard guy said, the gov't. doesn't have any equipment to fix oil spills. That's why it's BP's job, no matter how much it costs - and I do hope it costs them every penny of profit they've made in the last 10 years.— yoda
- It's simply ridiculous to compare Bush's economic record over 8 years of a generally normal economy with Obama's one year during the worst recession since the Reagan recession. The employment curve during the current recession almost exactly follows that of the Reagan recession. And both presidents dealt with it the same way--with stimulative programs financed with borrowed money. Step back a moment please--there's no partisan issue here, just the normal boom-and-bust cycle of any capitalist economy. Unfortunately we have a tendency to provoke these cycles by unwise policies in the years running up to the recession, but it's difficult to fix this because the causes are always different; oil insecurity during the 1970s (which Nixon and Ford tried to deal without the belt-tightening finally introduced by Paul Volker) and Bush's "ownership society" programs that encouraged the housing bubble in the 2000s. Partisan nonsense adds nothing to your understanding of our economy.— liberal
- lib, how was W's economic record over a 'generally normal economy'? How soon we forget a dot com recession when he came into office, 9/11 didn't affect the economy any & then a govt. induced housing bubble bust. In between those facts the economy grew & only had 5-7% unemployement. It is time to stop the govt. spending from growing anymore. o& increases for everything the govt. pays for for the next 3 years including salaries, pensions, colas, etc. If we keep raising govt. spending & borrowing we will end up in a double dip recession. You can't tax & spend yourself into prosperity & more jobs no matter how hard you try & this President is trying his hardest. nigel, point taken:)— NEPhilly
- "0% increases for everything..." is what I meant:)— NEPhilly
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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